


Find Me Before The Summer Solstice

by smolbin



Category: Chanbaek - Fandom, EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Angst, Byun Baekhyun is Bad at Feelings, Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol Angst, Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol Fluff, Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol Smut, Cyborg Do Kyungsoo, Cyborg Kim Jongdae | Chen, Cyborgs, Dating Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Dystopia, Fluff, General Kim Jongdae | Chen, Government, Lab Assistant Park Chanyeol, Leader Kim Junmyeon | Suho, M/M, MAMA Era Powers (EXO), Power Bottom Byun Baekhyun, Rebels, Smart Park Chanyeol, Soldier Byun Baekhyun, X-EXO Clone Kim Jongdae | Chen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:00:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28161327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smolbin/pseuds/smolbin
Summary: It’s 2094. Government launched new cyborgs and trapped humans inside their designed borders. They created a new world where unnecessary emotions are forbidden, a world where it is taught that the government is the only option.After escaping the government borders, Park Chanyeol is now in search of Byun Baekhyun, the man who opened a new world upon him.While discovering the haunted world of emotions, Baekhyun and Chanyeol learns what love is in the hardest way.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Kim Jongin | Kai/Oh Sehun, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 24
Collections: Magika Astra: Round 1





	Find Me Before The Summer Solstice

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there:)  
> This is the story I wrote for the prompt MA20-008, 
> 
> "They fled, but got separated. Now, Chanyeol leaves behind a path of destruction, when everything he wants is to find his other half, the light of his life."
> 
> First of all, I would like to thank the prompter for such a good prompt. I hope I managed to come up with a story line they hoped for. 
> 
> Also, thank you mods for putting up with me and giving me an extension. I really wanted to be able to finish this story and mods were really understanding. Thank you for all your hard work!  
> Again, my beta reader, who was always there to help me even when we went through a deadline crisis; thank you. I swear I couldn't do it without you. I love you :')
> 
> And last but not least, I'd like to thank to all the readers who give this story a shot. I really had fun writing it, hope you feel the same!

Baekhyun looked at the notification written on the tablet he was holding. His hands started trembling as his eyes glanced down at the title written in capital letters.

_“SELECTION DAY HAS ARRIVED”_

Baekhyun tried to swallow the lump formed in his throat, he felt his chest tightening with pain. His heart ached, it was a physical pain that he felt on his chest but it wasn’t like anything before. Baekhyun couldn’t quite understand, it wasn’t like the scars he got on the battlefield.

It felt as if his whole world crumbled down into pieces. As if he was a star crashing down onto Earth, becoming soil and dust.

There wasn’t a point in swirling in the sky alone, without anyone to hold onto. 

“Fuck...” Baekhyun kept mumbling incoherent words as he placed his tablet on his bed and walked towards the little bathroom in his room to throw himself under the cold water. 

As soon as his naked skin met the cold water, he wished to wake up, as if everything that was about to happen was simply a nightmare. However he knew it too damn well that even if he slept for days, even if it was a nightmare, he still wouldn’t be able to prevent that day from coming. He knew it all along, yet it still hurt.

After wrapping up a towel around his waist, Baekhyun left the bathroom only to meet two sad eyes watching him from the bed.

Chanyeol was sitting on Baekhyun’s bed with his white lab coat on top, Baekhyun’s tablet laying next to him with the screen on.

“You were selected.” Chanyeol’s voice almost cracked as he looked at the notification that was written on Baekhyun’s tablet. 

His eyes soon looked up to meet with Baekhyun’s. The shorter male looked so fragile and petite in the moment that once again, Chanyeol couldn’t believe that the man standing in front of him was the best soldier the Government had.

Byun Baekhyun. He was a professional in everything. Leader of the martial arts team, master of the light element, the Military’s best man when it came to weapons. Byun Baekhyun was the strongest soldier the Government has ever seen.

However, despite being the strongest man of the Government, Baekhyun had his own flaws and weaknesses that only Chanyeol has seen before.

“We knew that this day would eventually come. In the end, we age. Every man and woman who are 28 get selected for the matching. It’s to-“

“It’s to create the perfect genes and to maintain the population for a healthy country. I know our Government’s rules.” Chanyeol cut Baekhyun’s words as he spitted out the rules he knew since he was a child.

Every citizen that lived in this country knew the rules by heart, they were taught every single rule, word by word since they were children. Inside the Government borders, citizens had no choice but to follow what the Government wanted them to do. And when they wanted to rebel against the Government, they had to pay the price.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s eyes met and even though Baekhyun tried too hard to maintain a poker face, Chanyeol could see through that icy look. Despite wanting to look strong, look like he wasn’t affected by the news at all, Chanyeol knew Baekhyun was on the edge of a meltdown.

Chanyeol stood up from the bed and walked towards the dark haired man who was still standing in the middle of the room, half naked. His skin was cold to the touch, water drops were dripping down from his dark brown hair to his collar bones. Chanyeol’s long fingers neatly combed Baekhyun’s hair back, realizing how his hair had grown long throughout the years.

At first, Baekhyun wanted to escape the touch, his eyes instantly turning at the door to check if anybody could see them. But to his relief, the door was closed.

“Relax. Nobody is here. It’s just me and you.” Chanyeol reassured Baekhyun with his velvety voice, hands still caressing Baekhyun’s damped hair.

Whenever Chanyeol spoke, it sounded like a lullaby to Baekhyun’s ears. He felt at ease as Chanyeol whispered into his ear, his warm body embracing Baekhyun’s to share the heat.

Oh, how Baekhyun wished he could spend forever in Chanyeol’s arms. 

“Selection day is within a week. A week later, I have to go to that building and stand on that podium with the other people from my age.” Baekhyun’s voice was almost like a whisper as if he didn’t want to talk about this. As if saying this out loud hurt him deeply. 

Chanyeol’s lips quivered. Suddenly, imagining that scene made him feel vulnerable as if nobody could protect him from the truth.

The walls they had built from nothing with hope and expectancy were all crumbling down into pieces, as if a grand earthquake hit them.

Chanyeol felt as if he couldn’t breath, like a heavy weight had been put on his chest and his lungs were crushed into million pieces. As if someone ripped his heart apart and threw it into a black hole, non-existent. 

That was how being without Baekhyun felt. It felt like not existing. It felt incomplete. 

“Baekhyun...” Chanyeol mumbled the latter’s name before pulling him for a warm hug. Their embrace grew strong as they searched for the comfort in each other’s body.

Both of them knew how the things were supposed to go on the selection day. All the men and women would get matched according to their features and would be together for the rest of their lives to produce and maintain the population for the Government.

In their world, there was no such things like emotions and wishes. There were only rules that were mandatory to follow.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol were never meant to be. There was no place for them to live happily in this world. 

It was the only thing they’ve learned after growing up inside the Government’s borders.

Yet, they couldn’t break apart from each other.

“Do you want to run away with me?” Baekhyun pulled back as the words left his mouth, eyes looking up expectantly. Chanyeol’s body froze in its place as a silence was formed due to the tension in the air.

Nevertheless, Chanyeol wanted to say yes to this idea. The thought of running away with Baekhyun; to spend the rest of his time with the man who he desired with all of his heart, to create their own eternity. 

A world where they could be together, forever and more. 

“Yes.” Chanyeol mumbled after a silence that felt like almost forever. Looking into Baekhyun’s eyes he nodded his head with excitement, but the worry remained in his eyes. “Yes I want to run away with you Byun Baekhyun. But-“

Chanyeol’s words were cut off by Byun Baekhyun as he pressed his index finger on Chanyeol’s soft and plump lips.

“There is no room for hesitation in this world, Park Chanyeol. I’ve told you many times. In the middle of the battlefield, you’d be dead within a second of hesitation. If you blink your eyes, you are dead. If you wait for your opponent to pull the trigger, you are dead.” Baekhyun stepped back and turned his back to Chanyeol for a second in order to go through his drawer.

Within a second, Chanyeol pulled out a small knife and wrapped his arms around Baekhyun’s shoulders, the sharp side of the knife threatening Baekhyun.

As the cold material touched his neck, Baekhyun’s lips curled into a smile.

“If you turn your back, you die.” Chanyeol whispered into Baekhyun’s ears, his tongue almost touching Baekhyun’s ear.

“Impressive.” Baekhyun chuckled when the taller let him go.

“I am your student in the end.” Chanyeol placed his knife inside the hidden cover on the side of his pants.

“I know everything. And it wasn’t hesitation.” Chanyeol sat back on the bed, his shoulder shook as he sighed deeply. “I do want to run away with you, I do. But to where? How?”

“We have a week before the selection day. I’ll figure something out.” The towel around Baekhyun’s waist dropped on the floor as Baekhyun reached for the drawer to take out his uniform.

“You should go now, before somebody comes.” Baekhyun mumbled as he put on his uniform, not looking back at the taller because he didn’t want Chanyeol to see his expression.

Baekhyun sounded very sure of himself, as if he had a plan all along. However, in reality, his mind was a blank canvas waiting to be filled.

“Don’t worry, nobody saw me coming in. I have my lab coat on, it’s easy to make up excuses.” Chanyeol stood up on his feet, he walked towards Baekhyun who was now looking enchanting with the military uniform.

Chanyeol couldn’t help but closed the distance between them to place a little kiss on Baekhyun’s neck. His lips twitched with longing of Baekhyun’s skin on his, a warmth wave of desire washed over his body as his fingers tingled with hunger to touch, to feel Byun Baekhyun under their tips.

“I.” Chanyeol slowly whispered, his whole body shivered as he inhaled Baekhyun’s scent. The intimacy was dazzling. “I will be waiting, Byun Baekhyun.”

Soon Chanyeol shook himself off of that drunken phase and walked towards the door, checking outside before leaving the room like a ghost.

…

“Hyung, how was your selection day?” Chanyeol turned back on his lab chair to look at his co-worker Minseok who was examining the new liquid component they have been working on for the newly launched cyborgs.

Chanyeol played with his fingers, his shoulders dropped to his sides as his eyes came across the CCTV camera that was watching them from the corner.

“My selection day?” Minseok arched his brow without looking up from the microscope. The older stopped for a second before speaking again. “It was normal.” 

“How’s your partner? It’s been 2 years, right?” Chanyeol dropped his tools on the table and gave his whole focus to his opponent. Even though he tried so hard to look comfortable as he brought up the topic, his body language kept screaming otherwise.

Eventually, Minseok pushed his microscope gently aside and looked up to his younger friend who seemed uneasy as he nervously shifted in his place.

“She is a nice person, she is a nursery teacher in the practice hospital.” Minseok placed his hands under his chin and fixed his rounded eyes on the younger. Minseok’s face would always welcome a gentle smile, not one of those fake ones that every officer of the Government would wear.

“Hyung... I have this question.” Chanyeol looked at the older with an uneasy feeling rising up from his stomach to his throat. “Does your heart beat faster when you go home to her? Or when you think about her? Do you get excited?” Chanyeol finally managed to ask, he tried to explain in the best way he could.

Chanyeol’s heart beat faster every time he and Baekhyun would make a secret appointment to meet at night. He would feel excited without knowing the reason. Just thinking about Byun Baekhyun would fly him to outer space, making him float in the air as if all the weight on his shoulders has been lifted.

“Why would I?” Minseok shook his shoulders lightly, his eyes became empty since the weird questions of the younger made his mind go blank. 

Minseok wasn’t familiar with these emotions at all, like everyone else living inside the Government’s borders.

“Because...” 

The reason wasn’t something that Chanyeol could explain, it wasn’t something that could be expressed through words. It was something that Chanyeol could only feel.

He felt speechless every time he saw Baekhyun.

“Nevermind.” Chanyeol turned back on his lab tool and placed his hands on the table, his eyes glued on the biomechatronic arm laying in front of him.

Chanyeol has been working in the Government’s lab for years now. He was working on cyborgs, beings with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. In short, cyborgs were people whose physical abilities and powers were extended beyond the limitations by mechanical elements built into the body.

The Government saw cyborgs as the best invention of human history. Cyborgs were human-machine systems with technological components added into their human body parts to make them stronger. However, control of the machine was still in the people’s hands. Therefore to prevent creating a conflict between the Government and the cyborgs who were created from the old rebels, the Government took over the control mechanisms of the human portion by drugs or regulatory devices so that the cyborgs could live in an environment where they were taught to obey nothing but the Government. 

“Aren’t you supposed to get selected next year?” Minseok asked, his mind still going back and forth on Chanyeol’s previous words, his bottom lip jutting out. “Why are you worrying about it now?”

“It’s for a friend.” The younger’s voice came out like a whisper, he was overwhelmed because of the CCTV camera’s red light blinking at him from a far away corner of the lab.

Even at nights that he went to Baekhyun’s room or at times they took each other into secret corners, Chanyeol never felt this much stress taking over his body.

He couldn’t name it, it was just a bad feeling rising up inside him. He just sat there in a hunched posture with his hands sweaty.

“Byun Baekhyun? The military officer?” Minseok asked as he watched his colleague with curious eyes since the younger seemed very distracted from work.

Chanyeol’s eyes widened with the mention of Baekhyun’s name.

“He seems to be your only friend.” Minseok stated since Chanyeol seemed very surprised because of his guess.

“Oh.” Chanyeol’s plump lips formed a small ‘o’ after turning back to face his colleague. He covered his face with his hand as he bowed his head down with embarrassment. “I guess I am an antisocial type.”

“Nah, I would say that you are more like a secure type rather than antisocial type.” Minseok tapped his index finger on his right cheek, humming as if he was thinking of the right words to say. “You are very friendly and talkative, you just don’t trust easily.”

“Kind of.” 

“Anyways, Baekhyun will be fine. You should be fine too.” Minseok rose up on his feet and walked towards the younger to pat him on the shoulder before making his way to the closet where they displayed various machine parts for the cyborgs. “Selection day is the Government’s best game. And the Government is big, bigger than anything and anyone.”

Chanyeol’s jaw dropped down, his eyes widening with pure shock and fear as he stared at his colleague from behind. Before he could say anything to protest the situation, Minseok reached and took a blue liquid from the top shelf and showed it to Chanyeol.

“Lab A said that they managed to create an amalgamation that we can infuse into cyborg’s. They said it works both in machine and human parts. A fake blood.”

For a whole minute, Chanyeol stared at the older with wide eyes. He wanted to protest, he wanted to say something but he knew he shouldn’t.

Minseok was right. The Government was big, bigger than anything.

…

Chanyeol leaned back on his bed since he felt dizzy from watching Baekhyun walk back and forth inside the small room.

It was in the middle of the night, almost 1 am. Curfew had already started and the city was overall buried in darkness except for some of the buildings that were still producing electricity by necessity.

Chanyeol’s room was dimly lit by shaky candle light, his curtains were closed tightly and his wardrobe was placed in front of the window to prevent their faint shadows from getting caught.

Citizen’s rooms were the only place that didn’t include a CCTV camera which should have been very relieving for the couple but much to their dismay, it was more of an overwhelming thought. They knew every corner that the Government had hidden their cameras but inside their rooms were always a mystery. What if? The question kept nibbling their minds and the possibility of it haunted them at night.

What if they knew? What if everybody knew about them?

Even though they’ve set their hearts at rest by saying that the Government would have already captured and killed them, the possibility still remained in the back of their mind, suffocating them with fear.

“Could you please sit down?” Chanyeol asked, placing his head down on the hard pillow.

It’s been an hour since Baekhyun had started walking back and forth inside the small room, coming up with endless possibilities that could happen when they escape the Government borders.

Usually, it was Chanyeol’s duty to think rationally and plan things ahead since all Baekhyun ever knew was talking with his fists.

Actually, seeing Baekhyun thoughtful like this put a smile on Chanyeol’s face, he was reminded of their childhood when they were first met.

Chanyeol was a year younger than Baekhyun, therefore they hadn’t been taking the same classes back then. But slowly, they have both come to the conclusion that they were destined to be since the very first day.

Chanyeol was in 5th grade when he first met Baekhyun. He was standing in front of the Chemistry Club’s lab, a little bit hurt by the comments he got from the members of the club because none of them wanted to accept Chanyeol in, since he was a year younger than them.

Then after an hour or so, he had heard naked footsteps coming towards him. It was Byun Baekhyun in his white martial arts uniform, sweat dripping down his hair and he had a frown on his face which was kind of his signature look back then in middle school.

Baekhyun was very intimidating even back then, all the other students were afraid of him. He was the top in the martial arts club, everyone knew he was going to be the best soldier the Government ever had.

_“What are you doing here? It's the club activity hour. If you are not included in any of the clubs, you should’ve gone home.”_

_Chanyeol looked at the boy with a martial arts uniform whose eyes were examining him. The boy was pretty taller than Chanyeol, his hair was darker and it was laid back with sweat dripping down from its tips._

_The look inside the boy’s eyes were intimidating, Chanyeol stepped back without breaking eye contact._

_“They don’t let me join the club.” Chanyeol stated while his head pointed towards the closed glass door of the lab where the members of the club were examining a pink liquid that was inside a tiny glass tube._

_Chanyeol didn’t know why he had told that to a stranger. Looking at the boy’s face, Chanyeol couldn’t quite recall him from any of his classes._

_“And why is that?” The boy asked as he crossed his arms on his chest, which was surprising because Chanyeol had expected him to just shrug his shoulders and leave._

_“I’m in 5th grade. I supposed to join club activities next year but-“_

_“What’s your name?” The boy asked, looking at Chanyeol’s jutted out bottom lip which made him look very sad and defenseless in that moment._

_“Chanyeol, Park Chanyeol.” Even though he was caught a little bit off guard and was slightly annoyed because of that the boy didn’t let him complete his sentence, he found himself answering the question._

_“Okay Chanyeol, do you really want to join that club?” The boy had asked but instead of answering the question, Chanyeol’s lips had formed a small pout._

_“What’s your name?” The younger asked, ignoring the previous question._

_“Byun Baekhyun.” The taller answered, the frown on his face softening to form a half mouthed smile. “And now tell me, do you want to join that club?”_

_Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun with pleading eyes as he nodded slowly, not saying anything else._

_The way Chanyeol seemed defenseless sparkled something inside Baekhyun, a tingling feeling inside his stomach. Baekhyun wanted to care for the boy, he wanted to protect him and he didn’t understand why._

_“I’ll help you then.” Baekhyun mumbled, side eyeing the club members. “Wait here.”_

_Baekhyun went inside the club as Chanyeol waited in front of the big glass door, watching him talk to club members. Chanyeol couldn’t quite hear what they were saying but the members’ face seemed somewhat scared and intimidated. Seeing their expression, Chanyeol tilted his head slightly to see Baekhyun’s expression which seemed very calm._

_Maybe it was just his image that seemed intimidating to them, Chanyeol thought, even though Baekhyun seemed very soft from the outside._

_After a minute or so, Baekhyun exited the club lab with a half mouthed smile._

_“Club is all yours.”_

_Then he left without saying anything else, leaving Chanyeol with curiosity on their next meeting._

Chanyeol’s lips curled up into a smile with the memories of the day he first met Baekhyun.

“What are you smiling at?” Baekhyun asked as he sat down on bed, curling up next to Chanyeol. Looking up at Chanyeol’s face, Baekhyun couldn’t help but freeze for a minute.

Chanyeol was breathtaking. 

His smiling face was a refreshing sight, like the flowers blooming on a spring day, it reached deep into Baekhyun’s soul. 

Baekhyun rested his head on Chanyeol’s chest, his nerves eased from the latter’s heartbeats playing a soft melody into his ears. It wasn’t like those the Government played on the ceremonies, it was calmer and natural.

Baekhyun wanted to listen to it for the rest of his life.

“Nothing, I was just thinking about the day we met.” Chanyeol mumbled while wrapping his arm around Baekhyun, pressing him into his body even more to share each other’s warmth.

Baekhyun looked so small and petite inside Chanyeol’s arms. There wasn’t even a small sign from that tall, intimidating Byun Baekhyun. Chanyeol overtook that title by growing up faster.

Baekhyun still looked intimidating for those who have seen him on the battlefield. But for Chanyeol, Baekhyun had that unique aura of his; pure and gentle, earnest yet so vibrant.

To Chanyeol, Baekhyun was his way to happiness.

The sun that brightened his days, the stars that showed him the way.

Baekhyun was in everything and everywhere.

“You were such a cry baby, huh, I decided I’d protect you from that day but...” Baekhyun looked up with a joyous smile decorating his lips. “I didn’t know that you were going to grow up to this extent.”

“I am not sure if I have to be happy or slightly hurt about your little comment. Also, was that a compliment? Who knows.” Chanyeol puffed his cheeks before breaking into a soft giggle which made Baekhyun put a soft kiss on his cheek right where his dimple was.

“I can’t complain, I think you suit the tall image better, you know?” Baekhyun looked up into Chanyeol’s eyes that were sparkling with happiness and placed himself on top of him by wrapping his legs around Chanyeol’s hips.

Placing a hand over Chanyeol’s chest, Baekhyun drew circles on the soft material of his shirt with his index finger. 

“It takes my breath away, whenever I look at you... something inside of me lights up, like you are setting me on fire.”

Chanyeol tilted his head, eyes tracing Baekhyun’s finger that was wandering on his body.

Chanyeol could feel his heartbeats fastening, because of half excitement, half surprise.

Baekhyun was never one to speak so clear about his emotions, on how he felt.

Chanyeol straightened his body while placing his big hands on Baekhyun’s hips, settling him comfortable on his lap.

Without any words, their lips crashed together with need, hungry to taste from the poison of lust.

Chanyeol broke the kiss only to take off Baekhyun’s white turtle neck hastily, throwing it away to the other side of the room before pressing his lips onto Baekhyun’s again.

Their tongues danced inside each other’s mouths, Chanyeol wanted to give his everything to the kiss, he wanted Baekhyun to feel the fire starting in his heart.

Their bodies fit so well together, like they were the missing pieces needed to complete the puzzle.

Baekhyun’s hands roamed around Chanyeol’s chest, seeking an opportunity to throw his shirt away to feel his bare skin on his fingertips.

With a quick move, Chanyeol changed their positions, climbing on top of Baekhyun to pin him against the mattress. He took off his shirt, leaning over Baekhyun to let their bare skin brush against each other.

It felt as if their bodies were on fire, Chanyeol’s touches almost burnt Baekhyun’s skin with the sparks coming off of his finger tips.

“Fuck..” Baekhyun groaned as he pulled Chanyeol to himself for a quick kiss, he pushed his tongue inside Chanyeol’s mouth.

Pushing his hips upwards, Baekhyun’s hard on rubbed against Chanyeol’s, leaving both in muffled moans echoing through each other’s mouths.

Baekhyun’s body was moving vigorously under Chanyeol, making him gulp at the scene in front of him. Seeing Baekhyun whimpering with need under him made him chuckle with joy.

Chanyeol’s hand traveled down Baekhyun’s body, palming his erection. The older looked up with flushed cheeks, jolting his hips up, he wanted to feel Chanyeol.

They could feel their painfully hard erections throbbing inside their pants, blood rushing to their cheeks as their eyes met.

Chanyeol’s hot breaths hit Baekhyun’s neck, a course of pleasure ran through his body making him moan with need. The taller’s lips rubbed against Baekhyun’s neck teasingly, lingering on that one spot where he was sensitive.

Seeing Baekhyun like this; needy, defenseless and at Chanyeol’s mercy was definitely a joyous thing for Chanyeol since the latter was usually the stronger one in their relationship.

Chanyeol’s lips trailed down to Baekhyun’s nipple, tongue flickered across one while his left hand was twisting the other, leaving Baekhyun with tears of pleasure welled up in his eyes.

As the fire inside his body grew, Baekhyun pushed the taller impatiently, pinning him against the other edge of the bed. His wet and aroused nipple was now swollen as the cold air hit it when Chanyeol’s plump lips left their place.

Baekhyun hastily worked on his pants, throwing it on the bed before doing the same for Chanyeol’s.

“I told you, I don’t like it when you tease me.” He mumbled while panting, releasing his fully erect member as he pulled down his underwear, finally standing in front of Chanyeol fully naked.

“You like it but you are too impatient to feel me.” Chanyeol’s face welcomed a grin, he lifted his arms up as he surrendered and jolted his hips up for Baekhyun to take his underwear off. “All yours.”

Baekhyun pulled Chanyeol’s underwear down, releasing his twitching member.

Chanyeol’s eyes rested on Baekhyun’s milky white skin, biting his lips as he was too eager to taste it.

Baekhyun took his middle finger between his lips, coating it with saliva before pushing it inside his entrance to prepare himself.

Chanyeol’s eyes widened with the scene in front of him; Baekhyun fingering himself on his knees, head thrown back with pleasure as his hips jolted up and down.

With a quick move, Chanyeol pulled the latter on top of his body, pushing away his hand to replace his fingers. Chanyeol reached his arm down, his fingers traveled from Baekhyun’s back to his hips. Soon Chanyeol’s long finger started drawing circles around Baekhyun’s wet entrance, making his erection twitch between their bodies.

“Fuck.” Baekhyun mumbled into Chanyeol’s shoulder, his teeth slightly grazing the skin and he sucked in leaving a red mark.

Baekhyun’s hand roamed around Chanyeol’s body, trying to find the power to push himself towards Chanyeol’s finger that was threatening his entrance, teasing him mercilessly. 

Once the taller pushed his long awaited finger in, Baekhyun jolted with pleasure, his throbbing erection leaking between their torsos.

Their lips met again for hasty kisses, smacking each other while Baekhyun pushed his hips towards Chanyeol’s long finger pumping up his hole.

Soon Chanyeol pushed another finger in, Baekhyun’s chest arched on top of Chanyeol’s as the latter started scissoring him.

“Chanyeol...” Baekhyun whimpered inside Chanyeol’s ears, licking and biting his earlobe occasionally.

“It’s been such a long time.” Chanyeol mumbled as he gripped Baekhyun’s hard on that was between their bodies while his other hand was fingering him from behind.

Baekhyun cried out, whimpered while his hands formed fists on Chanyeol’s chest, trying to break free from Chanyeol’s grip on his body. It was a strange feeling as he both wanted Chanyeol to stop and continue until he reached his climax.

Chanyeol’s fingers fastened, hitting a sweet bundle of nerves inside Baekhyun’s rim. Baekhyun wanted to scream, a warm feeling of lust washed over him.

But then right when he was about to reach his climax, Chanyeol pulled his fingers out leaving Baekhyun with a disappointed sigh.

Straightening himself on the mattress, Chanyeol pushed Baekhyun back to throw him down on bed. Then he rose up on his knees, steadied his hands on Baekhyun’s arms, turning him over to face the mattress.

With his face buried down to the pillow, all Baekhyun could think was that their foreplay felt more like a power play where they tried to take the law in their own hands.

Baekhyun went up on all fours, he wiggled his hips in front of Chanyeol, feeling disappointed and undone as he still yearned to feel Chanyeol inside his tight walls.

Chanyeol’s hands roamed around Baekhyun’s cheeks, playing with the porcelain skin as he squeezed here and there. Baekhyun could feel the cold air brushing inside him as Chanyeol separated his ass cheeks, only to fill the void with his tongue flickering across his rim.

Baekhyun’s head fell on the bed, his hips were still in between Chanyeol’s hands. Baekhyun let out muffled moans, screaming into the pillow as the taller’s warm breaths tickled his skin. As Chanyeol pushed his tongue further inside, Baekhyun started squirming on bed. His legs were trembling as he tried so hard to stand on his knees.

Chanyeol soon pulled out his tongue, watching the scene in front of him like an artist watching his masterpiece. His index finger trailed a line from Baekhyun’s puffy rim to his balls, making the older shiver in his place.

Baekhyun wasn’t sure what was waiting for him next but the moment his hips hit against Chanyeol’s, his eyes wide opened with pleasure. Chanyeol pushed himself deeper inside Baekhyun, resting for a moment to let him adjust the size before slowly riding Baekhyun.

As Baekhyun’s walls clenched around his hard on, Chanyeol threw his head back with his mind clouded from all the pleasure floating in the air. Occasional whimpers and moans leaving their mouths as their bare skin hit each other and with every hit, Chanyeol tended to push himself inside Baekhyun harder.

Baekhyun looked back with his cheeks flushed and eyes teary, Chanyeol felt so good, today was better than ever.

Chanyeol’s member hit Baekhyun’s prostate again and again, making him feel overstimulated. Baekhyun kept pushing himself back to meet with Chanyeol’s hips, he couldn’t get enough of him.

Baekhyun could feel his climax building up once again and his hard on was twitching in its place. Muffled screams escaped his lips as he wanted this moment to last forever.

Chanyeol leaned over Baekhyun, his chest pressed against Baekhyun’s back as he reached up to grip the older’s throbbing erection one more time.

Chanyeol could feel himself riding to his nirvana, all his muscles tensed as he was forcing his hips to push forward with much more force every time.

Chanyeol’s hand rubbed Baekhyun’s member, jerking him off with the same steady pace their hips were moving at. 

Soon his fingers around Baekhyun’s cock tightened, his thumb brushing against Baekhyun’s shaft as his hips lost their rhythm.

His body washed with pleasure, Baekhyun was overwhelmed by all the lust from Chanyeol’s thrusts. Crying out loud, Baekhyun came into Chanyeol’s hand as all his endurance was drained.

It didn’t take long for Chanyeol to release his warm seed inside Baekhyun, his body drenched off with sweat. Their bodies dropped down on bed, Chanyeol’s over Baekhyun’s trembling one.

Their heavy breathing filled the room, their members leaking on white bed sheets as they had lost all their energy.

For a while, their bodies didn’t move an inch. A silence captured the room, they both bit down their lips to avoid the elephant in the room.

However, soon after, Baekhyun’s shoulders started trembling with tears running down on his face.

He lifted his head up, gasping for air since he felt like he was almost suffocating. His heart ached, it was a psychical pain he felt on his chest and it left him breathless.

Baekhyun turned to his side, pulling his knees to his chest as he laid in this pose trying to steady his breathing.

Even though Chanyeol had seen Baekhyun lower his walls before, he had never seen him cry like this.

Chanyeol felt his heart break into pieces, turning into dust that swirls around the room. His body stiffened and became heavier than ever, as if it was hard to carry the weight of his emotions.

He could feel his chest tighten with an overwhelming feeling. Sadness, anxiety, desperateness... Every emotion he could name. As if someone was suffocating him.

Chanyeol knew that they were standing on the edge already, he knew that anything would make them suffer at this point. But he never expected to see Baekhyun like this.

He never imagined seeing Baekhyun like this.

Baekhyun was strong.

He was the military officer Byun Baekhyun. The tough guy everyone feared, the master of the element light. He was the best soldier of the Government. He was the boy with the martial art uniform that brought anxiety into other’s hearts.

He was everything but a cry baby.

Byun Baekhyun was Chanyeol’s star that shone upon him. How could he fade away like this now?

It hurt.

Watching Baekhyun suffer like this hurt.

Yet there was nothing Chanyeol could do.

As Baekhyun’s shoulders shook, all Chanyeol could do was wrap his arm around Baekhyun’s fragile figure and press their bodies together to share his warmth with him.

Even though none of them talked, they were both feeling the same thing.

It could be their last time.

Like a star losing its way in the galaxy, falling down onto Earth with nowhere to go, they felt desperate to find a way before their death came knocking at the door.

They felt lost.

Was it really possible to escape?

Or were they just wasting their time running after false hopes?

…

Baekhyun looked at the food tray in front of him. It was the same old fixed menu again. The Government cafeteria had specific nutrition plans for different departments in the Government. Menus of the military officers like Baekhyun consisted of high protein pills, food supplements and other tasteless stuff Baekhyun hated.

They didn’t have a choice though. Even in their own houses, in their own rooms; the Government didn’t allow any other type of food.

Like everything else, they didn’t have a choice in this too.

Baekhyun’s eyes shifted to Chanyeol, who entered the cafeteria in his white lab coat with other staff.

As soon as their eyes locked together, Baekhyun felt his heartbeats fastening in his chest, his heart threatening him to come out of his chest. The Earth beneath him shook, his body trembled with an uneasy feeling paving its way to his spine.

Baekhyun bit his plump bottom lip, his mouth revoltingly dry. He slightly tilted his head to the side, his eyebrows pointing towards the small room next to the cafeteria exit, where they put the garbage bags.

The garbage room was very small, the Government didn’t feel the need to put a camera in there. Baekhyun had confirmed this information before so that he could meet Chanyeol during the day, without always seeking the opportunity to sneak into each other’s rooms at night.

Baekhyun played with his food, he had lost appetite a while ago, therefore he kept pulling and pushing the small pill on the tray. 

Baekhyun took a deep breath as his eyes watched Chanyeol’s colleagues leave one by one after finishing their lunch.

“Is Park Chanyeol, the lab worker, your friend?” Baekhyun’s eyes dropped on the table to avoid any eye contact as the General’s tough figure came to his sight.

Baekhyun took a short breath, he swallowed a few times to get rid of the dryness he felt in his mouth. Soon he lifted his gaze up, General Kim Jongdae’s blue right eye piercing through his chest.

Baekhyun had always found his General intimidating, his gaze always sinked into Baekhyun’s mind. Especially his blue eye; his one mutated blue eye, the one that shone next to the mundane brown one. The General was intimidating; his uniform had more ranks on its shoulder than Baekhyun’s, with his dark wavy hair always neatly separated to sides. Looking into his eyes sent shiver’s down people’s spine.

“I...” Baekhyun opened his mouth only to close it again when Chanyeol took a seat next to General Kim Jongdae, making Baekhyun’s heart shake in its place.

“General Kim Jongdae, I am such a big fan of yours.” Chanyeol held out his hand for Jongdae to shake, his face welcoming a soft smile. It was Chanyeol’s signature smile; one that showed off his cute dimples and impressed people, not giving them a chance to figure out if it was sincere or not.

People might have thought that Chanyeol was naive, your typical lab guy; smart but kind of dorky. But actually, Chanyeol was quite hard to read. He was so smart that he could hide any of his thoughts very well with just a simple smile. 

The only time he would bring down his guard were the times when he was with somebody he trusted or the times he was too sad to hide.

Baekhyun was very impressed by Chanyeol’s capabilities.

“Park Chanyeol.” The General smiled, his thin lips forming a curved line and it almost looked foxy on Kim Jongdae, like always. “I’ve heard many things about you. The Cyborg Project is almost flawless I can say, I must be very grateful that you expanded my army to this extent.”

Chanyeol pushed his thin round glasses up on his nose and his smile widened almost covering half of his face.

“It is a very exciting project, indeed.” He turned his head towards Baekhyun, reassuring him with his soft smile. “I hope I am not interrupting?”

“No, go ahead please.” Finally, gathering himself together, Baekhyun answered without thinking twice. 

“So you are friends?” Jongdae renewed his question that was avoided within the conversation a while ago. A sly smile played on his lips, his eyes had that familiar look inside them; a deadly glare Baekhyun has known from the battlefield.

As if Jongdae knew it all.

As if he had determined that he had waged war and was waiting for a counter attack.

As if he knew what was going on inside Baekhyun’s head like the palm of his hand.

For the first time, looking at his General, Baekhyun felt fear creeping inside his body. His whole body stiffened, his knuckles painted by a pale color from gripping the tray so hard without even realizing. He could feel his jaw clenching, his teeth pressed onto each other painfully hard.

“We could say we are friends, we've known each other since elementary school.” After a minute that felt like an hour, Chanyeol was the one who answered the question.

The tension in the atmosphere was easily felt. The gaze of the two uniformed men almost pierced each other’s skins and engraved into their bones, their expressions became numb as if they were reading each other's thoughts silently. There wasn’t even a sign of any emotion on their frozen faces, as if they were declaring a silent war against each other and the existence of Chanyeol was already forgotten. 

Seconds chased minutes, the cafeteria almost completely emptied. However, the three of them continued to sit in their seats. Neither a question nor an answer; only pure silence remained.

“Okay...” Chanyeol was the first to interrupt the silence. He checked the watch on his wrist and slowly rose up on his feet. “I think I should go, my shift is about to start.”

“No.” Jongdae protested, receiving a rather curious look from Chanyeol. “I bet you have some things to talk about.” The sly smile returned to his lips, it didn’t look sincere even though Baekhyun tried to see it as it was.

“We were about to leave.” Baekhyun mumbled under his breath.

Now that the cafeteria was empty, it was impossible for them to sneak into the garbage room without CCTV cameras capturing them.

“Please, they won’t even get suspicious since I was here too.” Jongdae gripped Chanyeol’s arm, pulling him back down on his seat.

The General slowly stood up and shook the dust off his uniform. With his lips still remaining in the same curved thin line, his gaze found Chanyeol’s.

“But before I go, I must say, Baekhyun is my best man. I would be very sad if I were to lose him.”

Then Jongdae left. Without waiting for an answer nor a comment, he turned back on his heels and exited the cafeteria, leaving the two in pure shock.

“Baekhyun-” Chanyeol tried so hard not to raise his voice. Now that they were alone with Baekhyun, he was having hard time controlling his facial expressions and it showed.

“He knows.” Baekhyun completed Chanyeol’s sentence, his face bowed down, as if looking at Chanyeol hurt.

“He’ll make our lives a living hell. It’ll be impossible to run away together.” Worry swept into Chanyeol’s face, filling his eyes with a glassy layer of tears; Baekhyun felt his heart sink deep into Chanyeol’s ocean of tears.

“Therefore, we won’t run away together.” Baekhyun mumbled, almost incoherently, with such unwillingness, with every word bringing pain into his body.

The emotional pain he felt always found a way to seep through his skin, reaching to his heart and crashing it into pieces until there was nothing but dust.

“We can’t run away together.” Baekhyun stated one more time, his voice finally finding the strength. “I have a plan. I’ll leave first, after midnight. I’ll find a secure place for us. And then come back for you.”

“What? Baekhyun, what are you saying?” Chanyeol’s brain stuttered for a moment trying to digest the information. For a while, he waited for a response from Baekhyun, not knowing what else to do.

He knew Baekhyun always had logical and contemplative ideas but right now, he was standing in front of Chanyeol for the first time with such sudden words leaving his mouth.

Chanyeol felt as if a storm had begun in his heart and all his emotions were shattered. The man whom he had wanted to spend forever with, was now telling him that he was going to act alone. And Chanyeol could not resolve whether this unhappy feeling that troubled him was disappointment or anxiety.

“Don’t lock your door after curfew. I’ll pass by before I leave, I need your help with something.” Baekhyun’s lips curled into a soft smile, a reassuring one to ease Chanyeol's worries away. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

Baekhyun took his tray and stood up, soon leaving the cafeteria with Chanyeol alone inside. 

...

Baekhyun looked at the mirror; his uniform, his reflection that contained many emotions at once.

On the floor his belongings were scattered around; his weapon, his knives, a candy wrapper that Chanyeol had given him as a thank you in elementary school...

These were the only things he treasured, the only things that were going to be a part of his new life alongside Chanyeol.

Taking a shaky breath, Baekhyun tried to calm himself down. His body was numb but his mind was stormy; so many things were going on and it was hard to process.

Baekhyun’s finger tips touched the woven felt cloth of his uniform. It was going to be the last time he was wearing this uniform for the Government. 

His last mission.

After he exited his room, there was no turning back. It was all or nothing.

It was either to share a forever with Chanyeol or die trying.

Baekhyun felt weak at the knees. It was the last time he stood inside his room as a soldier; as the only thing he knew how to be. 

He was trained to be a soldier, trained to fight.

Although he had to leave the only way he knew behind, Baekhyun didn’t regret anything. Because deep inside of his heart, he knew that after he took off that uniform there would be Chanyeol next to him to share his warmth when Baekhyun felt cold and naked.

Baekhyun had to leave who he was behind only to find himself again, as a whole new person.

Soon, Baekhyun escaped the hurricane of thoughts inside his head. He placed the candy wrap inside his pants’ pocket, as a lucky charm to help him in this mission after taking his weapons.

He opened his room door and checked outside. It was pitch black dark outside. Because of the curfew, all the lights inside the dorm building were off. It was for the best though, because it was easier to block the CCTV cameras.

With light beams forming on the tip of his fingers, Baekhyun pointed at the camera watching over the dark hall. The light beams would only block the camera view for a second or two but it was enough for Baekhyun to leave its sight.

It was dark but Baekhyun knew the way that led to Chanyeol’s room very well, he had memorized every corner. 

It had been years that they sneaked into each other’s room at nights, sometimes during mornings; before breakfast time.

Baekhyun didn’t know how it all started. At first they were friends trying to break some rules, it wasn’t important as it was now. 

The Government leader has always cherished Baekhyun like his own child. He made Baekhyun take special classes and taught him many things. And Baekhyun was committed to the Government like a family, he would never think of betraying them.

But it was only recent that he had realized some things. Things that weren’t right.

Baekhyun only recently realized that the Government he was bound to was corrupt from the beginning.

And there was no place for Baekhyun to live inside this world built by them.

After a few corridors and a change of floors, Baekhyun was standing in front of Chanyeol’s door. He checked both sides of the corridor before twisting the door knob and then he entered the room.

As soon as he entered the room he was met with the eyes of Chanyeol that were filled with such agony that it hurt looking at him. Baekhyun could feel himself trembling, a sharp pain piercing through his skin and sliding into his bones; echoing through his body.

The room was lightened up by a small fire flame coming from Chanyeol’s palm. Chanyeol was seated on his bed with his light blue pajamas, his eyes were covered with a glassy layer of tears that reflected the red flames coming off his palms.

Baekhyun walked towards Chanyeol with slow but steady steps. He looked at the fire flames that were swaying side to side inside Chanyeol’s palm with the cold air seeping through the edges of the window. With a soft touch of his, the fire went out with a hissing sound and the room sunk into darkness.

Baekhyun pressed their lips onto each other with such need, such eagerness, such agony. Without moving an inch, their lips stayed like that; just touching each other to feel the warmth.

The tears left their eyes and wet their lips and with the taste of the salty liquid, Baekhyun dared to move his lips. He deepened their kiss but it lasted only a second before he pulled back and lightened up the room with little light beams that seemed like stars forming around.

“All the exit doors are locked because of the curfew, but the borders are being protected by the lower ranked soldiers because of the security measures of the exits.” Baekhyun wiped his wet cheeks with the back of his hand, his voice protecting its stability; as if there wasn’t a hurricane inside his heart and brain. “It’s my only chance to exit the borders.”

“You said it yourself, the doors are locked. You need your pass code to get activated to open the doors.” Chanyeol knitted his eyebrows together, his brain was trying to come up with a plan since it was his duty to think rationally but his mind wasn’t working because of the overwhelming feeling taking over his body.

Instead of making plans, Chanyeol kept thinking about the endless possibilities waiting for Baekhyun behind these doors.

“If something occurs close to the borders, the alarms will be activated and so will the pass codes of the higher rank military officials. If only something occurs. Something dangerous… Like a fire. An arson. Rebels do it all the time.” Baekhyun spoke slowly, emphasizing every word for Chanyeol to process.

“You want me to start a fire? From this far?” Chanyeol stood up from his place with a sudden move, he walked towards his window.

Baekhyun followed him, standing next to Chanyeol in front of the window.

“The borders are seen from here. A small fireball, if you throw it high enough cameras can’t even catch it.” Baekhyun pointed towards the borders of the Government that could be seen through Chanyeol’s windows.

The distance was long, but Baekhyun knew Chanyeol could manage it easily.

“When?” Chanyeol asked, his eyes squinted as he watched the borders with a bunch of soldiers pacing up and down the exit. 

“Count to 10 after I exit the room.” Baekhyun said, his voice fading away with every word leaving his lips. He slowly stepped back, the light beams following his body as they disappeared one by one until only one of them remained to lighten up the room.

Baekhyun’s hand touched the door knob, the cold metal made his body shiver. His eyes were still locked on Chanyeol, whispering their last goodbyes.

Was it their last goodbyes? 

They wanted to believe it was only the end of their old life. They were finally breaking free from their cages. It was the beginning of their new life.

_Right?_

With a sudden move Baekhyun and Chanyeol ran towards each other inside the small room, their lips crashing onto each other as the last remaining light beam disappeared.

Their hands roamed around each other’s faces, touching each other’s skin; memorizing every bit of their feature in the dark room.

For a moment that turned into their own little eternity, they stayed like that; lips couldn’t part away from each other. Then their hands fell onto their sides, Chanyeol’s right hand gripped Baekhyun’s arm so tight that his uniform got wrinkled under Chanyeol’s fist.

Chanyeol couldn’t let go. 

Baekhyun placed his hand on top of Chanyeol’s. Chanyeol’s hand was warm, like always, but his skin was hardened because of dealing with lots of chemicals throughout the day. Nevertheless, it felt like it was made out of cotton to Baekhyun.

Feeling Chanyeol’s skin under his sent him to heaven and then back to hell when he had to take Chanyeol’s hand to make him let go of his uniform.

Baekhyun stepped back inside the dark room until his back met with the hard surface of the door. The time had come even though they wanted to avoid it.

And soon both of them heard the low sound of the door closing.

“1...2…3...” Baekhyun left the corridor that belonged to the lab workers. “4...5…” He changed floors to go back to his room. “6...7...8…” His steps fastened as he turned the corner that led to the corridor where he and the other higher rank military officials stayed. “9..” He twisted the doorknob of his room and entered inside.

“10.” 

The alarms went off a second later he closed the door behind himself.

Baekhyun leaned against the door, taking a few deep breaths to calm his nerves down.

“It’s war.” He reassured himself. “The only thing you are good at. Get yourself together, Byun Baekhyun.”

And then he left the room.

Baekhyun took a deep breath to calm himself. As the loud siren sounds filled the corridor, he could feel his body moving unrhythmically with his fingers gripping his weapon harder than ever. 

Adrenaline flooded into his veins as a soft panic started to grow inside him, making his brain freeze from time to time even if there was a storm going on inside his heart. As he walked down the last corridor, hidden between the other soldiers, Baekhyun realized how anxious he was. He felt like vomiting, the thickening liquid rose up from his stomach until his throat and he could taste his bitter stomach acid on the tip of his tongue.

All the military officers swiped their cards from the badge reader to open the doors. The green light turned on and off as the soldiers passed by.

After a few seconds, Baekhyun was outside the building with the other military officials, running towards the fire Chanyeol had started. He knew exactly what to do, where to go; everything he needed to know for his plans to come through. However, he couldn’t help but feel nervous. His body was functioning slower than ever and he felt his feet going backwards.

Baekhyun knew he wouldn’t regret anything because in the end all he ever wanted was to be with Chanyeol. 

Baekhyun knew this day would come eventually; the day he became the traitor, the day he betrayed the Government that once cared dearly for Baekhyun, the day he would start a riot and became a rebel. 

Until the moment he had to leave his room for real, Baekhyun hadn't felt the pressure brought by his actions. He was Byun Baekhyun, the master of all.

But maybe, only maybe, he wasn’t the master of emotions. He was a newbie, an amateuor. He didn’t know how to deal with his feelings back then when he pulled Chanyeol into a kiss and now while trying to suppress his emotions to follow their plan.

The dark buildings inside the Government borders started lighting up one by one as the sirens outside went off. The facades of the buildings were painted a neon red color because of the siren lights and the reflection of the fire that kept growing next to the observation tower close to the borders. 

Baekhyun saw a lower ranked soldier, who got hurt from the fire, was seated next to another soldier who was trying to cool the burnt skin with water coming from the tips of his fingers. He passed by them cold bloodedly, his focus still staying on the fire that got many military officials alarmed around the borders in case a group of rebels were trying to trespass. 

After a few seconds Baekhyun finally arrived next to the Government border doors which was opened by a few higher rank officials like Baekhyun checking around. He took a deep breath, it was so deep that he could feel his lungs and stomach aching as the fresh air kept filling all the spaces inside his body. He exhaled, his shoulders dropped to his sides.

“I will check the Entry B next to the East Wall.” Baekhyun stated as he walked past some familiar faces from his regiment. His steps were slow but self-assured as he walked towards the East Wall like he honestly stated.

It was only after he turned right from the North Wall that he started running. He ran towards the East Wall, his knuckles turned white because of how hard he gripped his weapon. When he was sure he had gotten far away enough from the corner of the North Wall, he shifted his steps to the left and ran towards the dark nothingness. The further he could move from the state borders, the better it would be for him.

When he left the concrete site built by the Government, he felt his feet retreating to the ground that was soft like sand. The Earth slid under his feet as he tried to escape and slowed his movements. Looking back, he realized that Baekhyun had never moved this far from borders alone since his birth. When there was military duty, they were driven away from the border in groups by vehicles and the airline was preferred most of the time.

At that moment, Baekhyun understood that he actually knew nothing about the outside world. He had no idea what awaited him and he was alone. The proud soldier who always stated that he had always stood on his own feet was now left alone in the darkness for the first time and was afraid like a child.

As a person whose super power was light, Baekhyun seemed too scared by the darkness surrounding him. He was cold, without the warmth and fire that was given him by Chanyeol's body, he seemed to go into deprivation.

But it was too late to turn back now. He had to continue. Therefore, he took a deep breath and started running again. As the sand slipped under his feet, rustling noises were mixed with the shouting of the military officials. He heard the sounds of several shots in the air. Still, he continued running. Until his ears were filled with his own name.

“Byun Baekhyun, stay right where you are.”

It was a familiar voice that he knew very well, it was the voice of his General commanding him to stop. No matter how much he wanted to escape, he felt his body freezing in place, as if he had to obey that order. Trying not to vomit seemed to be getting harder and harder as his own name echoed in his brain.

As the bitter and acidic liquid rose up from his stomach, his gun fell to the ground and stuck in the soft sand. The light beams appearing on his fingertips began to blow up in a way he could not control, and dispersed to various places in the dark sky. Just like fireworks, but not the kind that made people happy.

On the contrary, looking at the illuminated sky was overwhelming for Baekhyun. Because he knew he had failed. He was lost on this road he set out for the person he cared most about. And now the lights gliding from his fingertips into the sky were overwhelming him. Because his heart was stuck deeply in darkness.

Within a second, he fell on his knees just like his weapon that got stuck in the sand. His whole body was sweating cold, he had lost control. He was angry and upset, his emotions were out of control. Once again, Baekhyun failed to master emotions, and this overshadowed all his perfection that came from his other good qualities.

Although his eyes were covered with tears, he could see the rays of lights coming from the anger in his heart. The lights of the Government buildings behind them were flashing rapidly, and everyone was taking their share from the storm that started in Baekhyun's heart.

He hurled his right hand that was formed a fist furiously against the sand as a cry came out from his lips. His voice, which started out as quiet, began to rise up with the screams that followed. He was screaming loud enough for his lungs to burn. Even the lightning bolts sent to him by General Kim Jongdae stood on either side of his head, waiting for him to be quiet.

“I expected so much from you, Byun Baekhyun.” The General’s voice reached his ears and soon Baekhyun couldn’t resist the urge of vomiting.

The sand that laid under him hardened with the acidic fluid from his stomach. The rising sour odor once again clouded his stomach, while the anxiety inside his body didn't help him a bit. He continued to vomit until nothing was left in his stomach, until all the power in his body was withdrawn.

When he was done, he stood up as if nothing had happened.

He calmly spat on the ground and wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his uniform, as if he wasn’t the one who had a breakdown a moment ago.

The stench rising from his breath made the General grimace. But Baekhyun would prefer this expression to a triumphant smile.

Baekhyun had always been the one who smiled with victory. This time, however, the heavy burden of failure fell on his shoulders and clung to him like gum. It was almost hard to breathe under this weight.

“Lucky you, you’ll get a reward now, you beat the best man of the Government.” Baekhyun said as if he was almost spitting to Jondae’s face. Hate captured his expression as he looked inside Kim Jongdae’s eyes.

“You are delusional, you know that right? I’ve always been the best man, I am your superior, did you forget?” A sly smile formed on Jongdae’s thin lips as he took a solid and confident step towards Baekhyun. He slowly closed the distance between them with his weapon tightly gripped inside his hands.

“Yeah right, when was it again? The day you became the General? Before or after you volunteered to become a cyborg? The blue eye, I mean.” Baekhyun copied the exact sly smile, shooting it right back at Jongdae.

If it was time for him to surrender, he should’ve at least erased that defeated look on him. 

Nothing would be over until Baekhyun said it was over.

“You are talking too much for someone that is about to get arrested.” Jongdae pulled Baekhyun by the arm and turned him over to cuff his hands behind him. “Any last words?” The General leaned over Baekhyun’s ear from behind to whisper. “It may be your march to your death, you know.”

“I am so excited. Don’t forget to write this in your diary.” Baekhyun tried to fight until the very end even though his heart ached like crazy. He started walking next to the General trying not to think about the moment Chanyeol would find out that he failed.

But Baekhyun was glad he didn’t bring Chanyeol into this. He would rather fail on his own than losing Chanyeol.

“Now that I was thinking about it… why would the Government lose a soldier like you by putting you in a cell or executing you?” Jongdae kept walking towards the steel doors with Baekhyun next to him, a lightning bolt coming out from his index finger threatening Baekhyun from his neck right where his carotid artery was. “Why lose you when we could easily turn you into a cyborg, a killing machine.” 

“I would rather die than let the Government turn me into a machine.” Baekhyun grimaced his face as they stepped onto the concrete site outside the borders that was built by the Government. 

“Why? You would see your _friend_ . I am sure he would be so happy to turn you into a cyborg. In the end, you are _friends_ right?”

Suddenly, lights flashed inside Baekhyun's head and Chanyeol's face appeared right before their eyes.

He thought of being sent in front of Chanyeol to be turned into a cyborg, it all played inside his head like a movie frame. He thought of the moment when their eyes would meet each other’s and Chanyeol would realize that Baekhyun had failed.

Baekhyun felt a sharp knife pierced into his heart. As if someone was holding that knife and twisting it. He could feel the wound in his heart getting bigger and bigger, and the only person who could heal it was now preparing for the worst heartbreak of his life, unaware of anything.

Baekhyun had failed, yes, but above all he had disappointed Chanyeol.

…

The previous night passed quicker than Baekhyun had expected and without blinking his eyes even once, the sunlight had penetrated through the ventilation at the top of the cell.

Ever since he was captured by General Kim Jongdae and trapped in one of the cells at the base of the Government, all he thought was Chanyeol. Did he know? Did he know Baekhyun had failed?

There was one more important question that puzzled Baekhyun’s mind. Did the Government know that Chanyeol was involved too? Because the General was obviously aware of everything and would not hesitate to use it against Baekhyun. But there would be no good in dragging Chanyeol down this dangerous path for the Government. Chanyeol was an important key in the Cyborg Project, one of the most important projects of the Government, and Baekhyun knew that the Government couldn’t lock this door on themselves.

Baekhyun took a deep breath in. The humid air went down from his nose to his throat, burning his dry throat before inflating his lungs until Baekhyun felt as if they were going to explode and came out of his lips, accompanied by a resentful crying sound and dispersed inside the cell. Since yesterday, the ache in his chest hadn't stopped for a moment, and Baekhyun wasn't sure what to do with it anymore.

Baekhyun had never been someone to give up. But now that the walls of the small cell were hovering over Baekhyun and giving him the greatest hell on earth inside his own dark thoughts, he wasn't sure if he would get a second chance.

It was unthinkable to disappoint or abandon Chanyeol like that. His whole body was burning with pain as he thought about Chanyeol. It was such a pain that it echoed inside all his cells from the roots of his hair to the tips of his fingers, his body was contracting as if his bones were intertwined together.

After a while he heard footsteps approaching his cell. Baekhyun knew that after this, it was a journey to the unknown. From the moment he left this cell, Baekhyun would either walk to his own death or become the Government's dog, even though he preferred dying instead. 

Even though Baekhyun had broken free of his invisible collar a long time ago, his tail was still stuck between the border gates. Like a helpless dog crying in pain, he was waiting for his owner to come and put his collar back around his neck. Because he had nowhere to go, he didn’t know which way to go. Was there any difference between dying or living after leaving the man who taught him he could achieve anything?

What was the point if it's not going to be Chanyeol who Baekhyun would share a lifetime with? If the sun was not going to rise after he saw Chanyeol's sleepy face and the moon wouldn’t reflect on Baekhyun's heart from Chanyeol’s glowing eyes, there was no reason to wake up the next day.

Baekhyun has never been good with emotions. Baekhyun has never been good with anything or anyone. Except for Chanyeol. Chanyeol's arrival had ventilated his dusty heart, causing butterflies flapping their wings out of cobweb-covered corners.

How could such a beautiful feeling like this belong to only two of them?

He had to have an answer. These feelings had to have a _name_. Baekhyun should have been able to shout that word into Chanyeol's face over and over again. He should’ve been able to express his feelings better.

Maybe he should’ve done that before he had messed up everything.

Baekhyun now felt guilty for not telling Chanyeol something that expressed the feelings inside him better. The overflowing feeling inside him.

How could such a pure emotion be something that shouldn't have happened? Was this heart-pounding feeling really a bad thing that had to be avoided? Was it banned for a reason?

"The President wants to see you." 

This time it was just a familiar face from the lower ranked soldiers he saw in front of his cell. While he was glad that he didn't have to see Jongdae again, he was sure that he would be inside the President’s room with that smug face of his. 

Baekhyun stood up from the floor, every part of his body aching from not moving the whole night and laying down on the hard surface. Without a word, he left the cell and followed the soldier.

Outside the Government’s base’s door, a portable prison box was waiting for him. It was one of the boxes that they used to carry the worst criminals from one point to another. And so, Baekhyun became the most notorious enemy of the Government overnight, where he had been the number one before.

Maybe this wasn’t something exclusive to Baekhyun. People were always prepared against their enemies that would attack them from outside. However, betrayals from inside always caught people off guard. It started out as a kind of disappointment, then it hurt more than the actual enemy attacks.

Just as it was perfectly normal for a tiger that was hurt, to smash its opponent between its teeth, it was the same for humans. They would attack in order to knock down the opponent they had taken to the inside before.

But sudden attacks, due to the arrival of an unexpected betrayal, would bring poorly thought tactics along with them.

Therefore, Baekhyun knew he would find a loophole in this strategy. Regardless of what would happen in the end, he had to get himself out of that tiger's mouth.

Baekhyun heard the sound of the lock opening from the outside of the narrow box with the metal walls on it, after a journey that felt like eternity in the darkness that strangled his soul.

The special handcuffs that were covering his wrists prevented Baekhyun from controlling the light, and if he moved too much, it would cause pain which engraved into his bones from his wrists to his body. These cuffs, meant to prevent power control, were one of the objects Chanyeol invented in the early years when he started working in the laboratory.

When Chanyeol had given life to this idea, Baekhyun flooded him with endless praise. However, neither of them knew that one day these handcuffs would wrap around Baekhyun's hands.

Baekhyun slowly started walking down the bright corridors of the Administration building. His eyes that accustomed to the dark in the cell, were now struggling to stay open in front of the light that hurt his pupils.

The Administration building was the most spectacular one out of all the buildings inside the borders, and low-class workers rarely came to this area. However, this was not the case with Baekhyun. Baekhyun has been coming here often since he was little. Because the President and he were really close to each other like a father and son before all this happened. But now Baekhyun could not help but question the sincerity of that bond.

Since he had betrayed that bond anyways, it would be selfish to expect the opposite from the other side.

Baekhyun found himself in front of the huge red door when the never ending familiar paths finally came to an end.

When he was in high school, he had asked the President why only this door out of all was painted with such a bright red, when almost no building of the Government used vibrant and different colors like this. 

This door took its color from the blood flowing in people's veins. The President had painted his door in this color specifically to represent people. Because he wanted everybody to know that, like everything else in this state, people belonged to him too.

Life and Death were at his fingertips, and he had the right to control everybody like a puppet player. The Government was his play scene, and he was the God of this stage.

Baekhyun didn't quite understand this at the time. However, all the stones settled over time. Perhaps he deep down knew that Baekhyun would eventually come here like this one day.

"From the millions of people living in this country, maybe, _you_ were the last person I wanted to see here like this. So, what do I owe this honor for?" Baekhyun looked up at the President's old eyes. His face was now wrinkled, showing his age and the marks of the past years began to form on the corners of his eyes.

When Baekhyun didn’t answer, the President stood up and started moving towards him. Avoiding eye contact, Baekhyun had time to examine his surroundings until the President came and stood before him. Contrary to what he expected, there was no one in the room except for himself and the President. The soldiers who had accompanied him until here had remained outside the door.

"What was the reason behind your little escape plan?" The President repeated his question once more. There was not even a meter long distance between them anymore.

Baekhyun shrugged at this question. Like a reckless little child, spoiled and impudent, his body shook with a sarcastic smile, and at last he lifted his head to look at that face he had once bowed respectfully in front.

"I don't know, I was bored. War, fight, rules ... thousands of people working beneath me ... thousands of people working over me ... maybe I'm a lone wolf." The expression on his face looked so arrogant that the President couldn't help but slap Baekhyun's right cheek.

Baekhyun staggered with the slap and retreated a few steps. However, as soon as his brain realized what was happening, his body counterattacked, but all he could do was to spit in the President's face, since his arms were tied.

If that spit, perhaps, came out of someone else's mouth, that person would be lying on the floor with a bullet in the middle of his brain, and the color of the blood flowing from his head would merge with the red door, leaving residues on the white parquet.

But perhaps because the person in front of him was Baekhyun, the President took a handkerchief out of his pocket with a disgusted expression and cleaned his face before turning back to Baekhyun. The sarcastic smile spread over Baekhyun's lips was maddening.

And Baekhyun knew that.

He knew that the President's blood was boiling, and that made his smile grow even more. The madness mixed with anger was spreading from Baekhyun's veins all over his body as he killed the President many times in his head.

At first, by shooting him from the middle of his chest with his gun. Then by repeatedly stabbing his knife into different parts of his body. In his next dream, by burning him with the high-energy beams of light that emitted from his body.

In the end, however, he was only going in front of him and this time he was killing the President by passionately kissing Park Chanyeol. Because he wanted to scream in his face that among every person in this country, there wouldn't be anyone like Baekhyun no matter what they did.

No matter how their DNA’s matched perfectly, their hearts would never be filled. And this was the most painful death.

While their dead souls were condemned to loneliness for a lifetime, the butterflies in Baekhyun's heart would never stop flapping their wings even when his body was buried six feet under ground.

Because there would be someone remembering Baekhyun, no matter how the story would end. Chanyeol would always reminisce about him in his memories. 

And for Baekhyun, their little infinity was perfectly enough.

“I don’t know what’s going on inside that head of yours, but you know I can’t just let it go.” The President took a deep breath before turning on his heels, his back facing Baekhyun. “I can’t let you go but I can’t kill you either.”

“I guess I have that face that makes everyone admire me. Right?” Until the very last moment, Baekhyun refused to give up. He fought with his words, with his reckless behaviors. He wanted to show the President that even if they were to kill him, he wasn’t afraid.

“Don’t see yourself so highly like that. It’s not that I can’t if I want to. It’s because I would rather use your power under my will. You would make the perfect cyborg.” 

“I would rather die. Working under you? Oh please, I have had enough of that shit.” Baekhyun protested. Even though his face seemed so careless at the moment, deep inside his heart becoming a cyborg was the last thing he wanted.

At least dying meant dying while still feeling that same warmth towards Chanyeol inside his heart. 

But turning partly into a machine would cause a void inside him where his emotions were.

“You are not the one who is making decisions Byun Baekhyun. You made your decision and you failed. Now it’s my turn.” The President turned back again to face Baekhyun, a similar smug grin reflecting from Baekhyun on his lips, he snapped his fingers and with his one move the soldiers entered back inside the room.

“Take him to Lab C, I want Park Chanyeol to take care of him.”

…

Chanyeol’s fingers kept tapping on his desk unrhythmically as he waited for something, even though it was a small thing, he wanted to hear something about Baekhyun’s whereabouts. His fingers were hitting the metal table so hard that he broke a few nails, but he didn't even notice it. His eyes, which he hadn't blinked even once since last night, had turned bloodshot. It wasn’t possible for him to sleep, under his eyes were painted a pale purple color and the anxiety surrounding his body had spread all over his face.

His colleague Minseok stated several times during the day that he was worried about him, but Chanyeol had shoved him away with irrelevant answers.

Yesterday, as he looked out of the corner of his window, he saw the soldiers running around the streets. His eyes followed Baekhyun, who was taking firm steps forward, to the Northern border wall and then he had lost track of him in the chaos. After that hour, everything had turned into an unknown, he had no idea if their plans were working.

He felt as if someone had his heart inside their palm and was squeezing it with all his might. Like a small sparrow, he was breathless in between someone else's hands and his wings were broken. It was as if even though the hands that were holding him would disappear and set him free, he wouldn’t be able to flap his wings to freedom.

This thing summed up the situation that was taking place inside the Government, it was the perfect explanation of how they made people feel. They take you inside their palms and break your wings, and when they let you go, they would make you believe you were really free. As if you could fly away if you wanted to but staying was your own choice. 

However, your wings were already broken now. How could you fly away to freedom?

This was how Chanyeol felt, so overwhelmed by everything taking place inside this Government. And Baekhyun was his only getaway from these feelings. He was the only sight that lit a spark inside Chanyeol.

That made him feel alive.

Chanyeol could feel his breath tightening and his lungs burned with pain. He was waiting impatiently for the news, tapping his fingers on the table.

After a few minutes the door of the lab was knocked and two high ranked guard soldiers and a laboratory expert entered. Chanyeol's heart began to beat in his mouth the moment he saw the high security cell box standing behind the guard soldiers. Deep inside, as if he was already anticipating what was going to happen, he had such a pain in his chest that he would have thrown himself on the ground if everyone weren’t watching him. 

However, he could not. 

Because he needed to see what was behind that box so badly. He desperately needed an unfamiliar face to come out so that he could find comfort. He wanted to push the hands that were clenching his heart and flap his wings to soar into the sky. 

But as the soldiers opened the cell door, his hopes faded into gray. He felt his chest explode between the hands that were squeezing it.

Boom.

All his feelings were shattered, all his thoughts intertwined with each other now.

When his anxious eyes combined with Byun Baekhyun's apologetic ones, it was as if his body was frozen in its place and his brain could no longer command anything.

"Byun Baekhyun, the Military Officer with the code number 89516 has been proven guilty for betraying the Government. It's decided by the President that he'll be turned into a cyborg." As the lab specialist read the file in his hand, every word stuck into Chanyeol's chest like a knife.

The atmosphere in the room was so overwhelmed with sadness and grief that Minseok, unable to withstand the situation, calmly took the file from the laboratory specialist's hands and began to deal with the approval phase of the project.

Chanyeol stood still, the soles of his feet moving nowhere, as if they were glued to the floor.

While Minseok was taking care of all the official parts, Chanyeol’s eyes hadn't left Baekhyun's for once, just staring at him, not knowing how to feel from now on.

His body was just starting to burn unexpectedly as if a bucket of boiling water had been poured over his head. And he could see from the pain in Baekhyun's eyes that they both felt the same way.

Chanyeol had dreamed a lot about their next encounter with Baekhyun ever since they planned to escape. He thought of the excitement they would experience, the feeling of lightness caused by the freedom, the days he would share with Baekhyun to come; he reassured himself with the beautiful thoughts surrounding their heart.

But he had never dreamed of such pain like this to come.

After the expert and the soldiers in the room left with the cell box, Baekhyun was left alone with Chanyeol and Minseok. The tension was in the air as they kept staying in their places.

For a while no one spoke. Maybe because of that he was aware of everything that was happening, Minseok also gave the two some time to digest the situation so he didn’t talk either. 

For several minutes, Minseok had studied the documents and read Baekhyun's reports. As the silence continued in the room, he grew worried about his colleague too. But he couldn’t leave the two of them alone as the red light of the CCTV camera winked at them from the corner of the lab.

“We have to run some tests on Baekhyun to see whether his body is compatible with the biomechatronic parts.” Minseok stated his eyes going between the younger two over his thin glasses. 

He stood up and walked towards his colleague and placed his hand on Chanyeol’s shoulder, a gentle pat to warn him and wake him up from the trance he was in.

“Chanyeol, why don’t you go to Lab A and ask for the sampling procedure. I have seen that they haven’t taken any blood and tissue samples from the test subject because the President only gave permission to our Lab.” Minseok slowly talked, making sure he mouthed every word one by one so that Chanyeol could process it even though he seemed like he was out of his mind at the moment. “I’ll take care of our test subject.”

For a minute or two, Chanyeol remained in his place without saying anything, just looking into Baekhyun’s eyes.

Baekhyun slowly blinked his eyes, reassuring Chanyeol on what he was supposed to do. Therefore Chanyeol nodded his head slowly and took the documents from Minseok’s hands before leaving the lab without saying anything.

“How are you feeling?” Minseok asked Baekhyun as he accompanied him to the metal desk that was in the back room of the laboratory where they examined people.

Baekhyun didn’t answer. He didn’t know whether Minseok could be trusted or not, therefore he remained silent as they walked to another room in Minseok’s lead.

“I don’t know the relationship between you and Chanyeol, and I am pretty sure it’s not something that I can understand.” Minseok continued talking in hopes of giving some comfort to Baekhyun. He was no enemy in the end, he was just an ordinary lab worker that followed the orders.

The older one took a small key from one of the cabinets next to where Baekhyun was seated and gently unlocked the cuffs that were designed by Chanyeol a few years ago.

“I have to get your hands free so you can undress. I have to examine your body before running tests.” Minseok stated as he turned around on his heels and walked up to the study desk that was placed on the other side of the room.

“You seem like you already know about the sampling procedure. Yet, you sent Chanyeol anyways.” Baekhyun finally opened his mouth as his fingers worked on the buttons of his uniform that was now covered with dirt. 

His hands were trembling but he couldn’t quite tell if it was because of nervousness or the lack of sleep. Actually, it was hard to process anything since last night. He just felt like a ghost that was taken from somewhere to another.

“To be honest, I do.” Minseok looked at Baekhyun from the back of his shoulder with a somewhat warm smile that Baekhyun hasn’t been seeing since yesterday. “But if he stayed, he was going to lose it. And the cameras are working.”

“Cameras are still working.” Baekhyun stated while tossing his pile of clothes aside. A soft hissing sound escaped his mouth as his bare skin met with the cold metal of the examination desk. Taking a deep breath, he tried to get used to the cold as he slowly lied down.

“Yes but the cameras inside the examination room can’t record voices and doesn’t work well most of the time because of the machines using the same frequency inside the room.” Minseok walked up to the younger who was now laid on the desk naked without any protest. “Since we can’t take a risk by running cameras and the other important machines inside, the Government allows us to turn off the cameras sometimes. Like now.” 

Minseok walked up to a big square shaped machine that Baekhyun had no idea what it was and turned it on. He looked at the CCTV camera that was placed in the corner and raised his right hand, his thumb and index finger formed a circle that stated that the machine was on. Then the red light of the CCTV went off.

“Dress up, you’ll catch a cold.” Minseok mumbled almost incoherently as he wrote something on a small note paper that was in front of him. 

“What?” Baekhyun straightened up on the examination desk and turned his gaze to Minseok. He was tired and emotionally overwhelmed, his brain was not working well anyway and he was having trouble understanding what was happening now. "What do you mean?"

"Like I told you, I don't know what's between you and Chanyeol. I don't think I understand either, but ... but I wish I could." Baekhyun tilted his head to the side, trying to understand what the lab worker meant by saying that with blank eyes.

Minseok's face looked somehow sad and that was surprising. All the attendants who had accompanied him up to now looked at him with triumphant smiles, as if everyone involved in his transformation into a cyborg was quite pleased with the situation.

But Minseok was not like the others. At one point he was a simple lab attendant, but it was as if he could feel very different things compared to other people working in the Government.

"I have a friend. More precisely, I had a friend. His eyes glowed just like Chanyeol's. He would constantly ask me questions about my feelings, but I wouldn't understand. Or maybe, I didn’t want to understand. My eyes would never shine like his." Minseok's gaze turned to the ground.

For a moment, Baekhyun thought he saw regret in Minseok’s eyes. But it was just a small glimpse before he looked up after getting himself together.

"Anyway, he managed to escape from here. He never came back. I don't know if he's still alive. I don't know where he is either. I have no idea what is happening outside of these borders.” Taking a deep breath Minseok tried to smile again. It wasn’t that big and warm like the previous one but it was still sincere.

“I don’t understand what you are trying to say…” Baekhyun mumbled as he stood up from the desk and took his pants. 

The temperature of the examination room was really low and his body had already started to tremble. 

“His name was Junmyeon. He worked here with me before Chanyeol.” Minseok held out the small note paper that he was writing on a moment ago. “He exited from the hill where the Government dumps the hazardous chemical wastes.”

Baekhyun took the paper from Minseok and his eyes widened with the thing that was written on the paper. 

_Baekhyun will escape from the HCW area. If I am unconscious when you find me, burn this paper and notify the military forces of an emergency. Code 408A, subject got out of control and escaped after injuring the lab attendant. You don't know anything because I sent you to Lab A before this. Cameras were off._

_Baekhyun will be gone by the time you let them know. I promise._

Baekhyun's hands that were holding the paper began to shake. His eyes met with Minseok’s with concern. What was going on?

Was Minseok helping them? Was it real? What if it was a trap?

"What are you trying to do?" Baekhyun asked in a shaky and thin voice. However, Minseok was acting irrelevant as if he were ignoring all of his questions.

"Here. Put on my lab coat." Minseok took off his lab coat and handed it to Baekhyun. "My card is in your pocket. We are about the same height. You can leave the building with this card as long as you do not point your face directly to the cameras."

Baekhyun took his lab coat and waited without answering. He didn't know what to say. Taking his shirt and trousers from the pile where his own clothes laid, he tossed the jacket of his uniform aside and put on the lab coat that Minseok had given him. The card with Minseok’s personal code was indeed there when he put his hand in his pocket.

Baekhyun left the note paper, slightly crumpled and dampened with sweat from holding it, visibly on the examination table. His body conformed to Minseok's plan without questioning it. However, there was a great battle between his brain and his heart. His self-confidence was shaken after a failed escape plan once.

Would he be successful this time?

Minseok grasped the lancet from the counter hand handed in Baekhyun's hand, then he took a step or two back and slowly bowed his head forward to take a look at his body. His thin fingers began to hover around his abdomen as if he was searching for a specific location.

“Let’s see.” He mumbled to himself before raising his voice more to let Baekhyun hear too. “My best bet would be the lateral lower quadrants of the abdomen.” 

“What?” Baekhyun looked at the older with widened eyes. He knew what he was talking about too damn well but still, his brain didn’t want to process the situation. 

Baekhyun knew what parts of the body he had to attack in order to kill someone. He was trained for that. But he didn’t know the parts that wouldn’t kill his opponent.

“I heard that you are good with knives, lancets are not that different if you manage to apply more force and change their angle.” Minseok explained slowly pointing at the sharp object Baekhyun was holding in his now trembling hands. “So… the right upper quadrant has the liver and the left upper has the spleen… let’s not forget the big abdominal arteries too. The kidneys are deep into the intestines and they are approximately at the level of the belly button.”

“So it’s below the belly button.” Baekhyun continued, his eyes examining Minseok’s body.

“Yes, lateral to midline to be specific. If Chanyeol takes long the worst would be my wound getting infected but I would say I would still be fine for 2 to 3 hours.” Minseok took a deep breath and placed his index finger below his belly button to point at the specific area. “Since the laboratory is constantly disinfected, chances of uncontrolled infection risk that could end up with end-organ dysfunction are very low. That means there is no risk of me going into septic.” 

Minseok put a smile on his face to reassure Baekhyun and offered him comfort to shake off his worries.

“So don’t worry, I won’t die.”

Baekhyun looked at the shiny metal object in his hand. The feeling of its grip didn’t resemble a knife. The lancet felt much more subtle and gentle. Baekhyun waved his hand around for a while to get used to it.

After getting used to the weight of the lancet, he took a deep breath and looked at Minseok. He felt incredibly guilty for doing something like this because Minseok wouldn’t benefit from this, he could even get punished easily.

"Well, what’s your benefit from this?" Baekhyun grasped the lancet firmly before he began scanning Minseok's abdomen area with his eyes.

Before Baekhyun took any action Minseok understood what was going to happen now and pointed to a specific point on his abdomen where he thought it was his best bet on living. 

Taking a shaky breath, Minseok closed his eyes. No matter how much he had planned everything in his mind, it seemed impossible to be ready for a situation like this.

Baekhyun took a deep breath again and tried to calm his shaking body after not getting any answers from Minseok. He tried to fix his hands which was very important at this point if he didn’t want to make any crucial mistakes. 

"Sorry." Baekhyun muttered in a low voice and positioned himself in front of Minseok. He bent down one knee and placed it between the older's legs so that Minseok would be placed in between him and the counter. Thus Minseok wouldn’t get worse with a sudden jolt caused by the injury.

"One second." Minseok stopped Baekhyun and put his hands between his hair. After shuffling his hair strands and opening a few buttons of his shirt to make himself look as if he just fought with someone, he was finally looking more convincing.

People would at least assume that he had put up a fight. 

"Are you ready?" Baekhyun's fingers that were holding the lancet tightened, and his arm, bent at a 45-degree angle from his elbow, was positioned about 30 cm from Minseok's abdomen.

With Minseok's nod, Baekhyun quickly stabbed the lancet in his hand, slightly below Minseok's belly button.

Minseok's round eyes widened as the sharp object penetrated under his skin, his pupils trembled with pain. A silent cry came out of his mouth and his lips parted to exhale deeply.

With Minseok's painful expression, Baekhyun's now red painted lancet slipped from his hands and fell to the ground. He took a step or two back and watched as Minseok's body slowly slid against the counter before he took a seat on the ground.

"Sorry." Baekhyun said again.

He had taken so many lives and hurt so many people so far. He had witnessed a lot of pain on the battlefield, but none of them had affected him this much. He felt his whole body tense with the heat rising from his stomach. He almost felt like he was going to throw up.

Red stains soon began to appear on Minseok's white shirt. Minseok pressed his hand firmly to his stomach to slow the bleeding, forcing his eyes to keep open.

"Baekhyun. Do me a favor." Minseok muttered in a low voice. Due to the pain in his stomach, he was breathing fast and intermittent, and his words were difficult to understand properly. "If you find Junmyeon, tell him I lied. My answer was yes."

Baekhyun tried to swallow whatever it was in his throat that clinged to his windpipe like a huge knot, blocking his breaths and making him sick. He nodded slowly at Minseok's request, the inside of his mouth so dry that he doubted his voice would be heard even if his lips parted to let the words out.

He took a few steps back and looked at Minseok's face, even though he was in pain, he still smiled to comfort Baekhyun. 

After all the sacrifices made on the way, Baekhyun had to succeed this time. So he, too, thanked Minseok in his own body language, with a slow nod, and left the examination room, turning on his heels, with his head leaning forward in quick steps.

...

Chanyeol arrived at Lab C with hands full of files about the sampling procedure. After spending approximately 2 hours at the Lab A, because of the lab expert that didn’t know how to stop talking, Chanyeol had finally gotten to his senses.

He was now awake and was thinking more rationally compared to a few hours ago when he had first seen Baekhyun. Although he seemed to be on his way to start the progress for the cyborg transformation, his brain was actually working on other things.

In his mind, he constantly made up plans to get Baekhyun out of the Lab, and then the borders.

Baekhyun had taken enough risks for Chanyeol and now it was his turn to be there for him when he needed the most.

Despite the determined mindset he had, it didn’t take him long to go back to the start when he saw Minseok lying on the ground with blood leaking through his abdomen.

After hours of trying to get himself together, Chanyeol was once again frozen in his place with his mind blank, unable to think of anything.

His round eyes were opened widely, pupils twitching with the sight in front of him. And Baekhyun wasn’t anywhere to be seen which was another worrying case.

The heavy files dropped down on the floor from his trembling hands and he took a shaky step forward to his colleague, who seemed to have gone unconscious because of the blood loss. 

The scene in front of him made him sick to his stomach. The dark red stains in between the tiles, the dried blood drops on Minseok’s white shirt, the lancet next to him… All these images were enough to lift his stomach. He quickly pressed his hand to his mouth and swallowed the bitter liquid that reached the tip of his tongue. He wasn't sure if his eyes were burning from the tears or from the sour smell coming from his mouth. 

All he knew was that he couldn't stand this sight any longer.

He knew he had to do something. He had to move. He should have run and helped Minseok.

However, his feet remained as if they were glued to their place. His brain was looking for a logical explanation of what had happened, with his hands in fists on both sides.

On the one hand, he wanted to be relieved that Baekhyun wasn’t around. He wanted to hold on to the possibility that Baekhyun had escaped. But on the other hand, it was an overwhelming feeling to see his innocent colleague that way and know that Baekhyun could be the one behind it.

After what felt like eternity, Chanyeol took another step forward and that was when he saw a small note on the examination desk where Baekhyun should have been.

His eyes swiftly wandered between the lines written on the paper. And as soon as his brain digested what it was written, the paper got burned and turned into ashes inside his hands. The ashes flew around the room with cold air, disappearing within seconds.

Chanyeol dropped onto his knees, rushing to his colleague, eyes wide open. He was more confident now and could think properly.

So the first thing he did was to press his hands firmly on Minseok's wound, which was still bleeding red. The colleague's eyes were closed, but his breathing could still be felt. Chanyeol checked his pulse with one hand, there was a faint pulse.

The stab wound was not in a deadly area so it had to be planned, Chanyeol thought. Minseok had helped them voluntarily, and if Chanyeol wasn't in great shock right now, his emotions could become a flood in front of this favor.

Chanyeol lifted Minseok's eyelid with his index finger. His pupils were not responding to the room's brightness, he was unconscious. This meant that the incident probably happened shortly after Chanyeol left. So Minseok had been bleeding for over an hour.

"Fu- You shouldn't have done that for us..." Chanyeol muttered in a low voice, then pulled the lab wireless from his pocket. After taking a deep breath, he pressed the talk button.

"Code 408A. I repeat, Code 408A. Laboratory A. The test subject got out of control, injured the expert and ran away. Emergency, close the borders." And so, Chanyeol unwillingly, reported to the Government of Baekhyun's escape, which he was plotting to help only half an hour earlier, in full compliance with the plan he had found himself into.

All he could do from now on was to hope that their timings matched and that Baekhyun had already left those borders as all the doors were locked with sirens going off.

…

Almost a week had passed since the so-called laboratory accident and for all this time the only thing Chanyeol did was to think about his escape plan. He did not eat nor drink. He spent all his time thinking about this plan in detail.

He sometimes visited Minseok in the hospital to spend some time with him. Driven by the improvement of Minseok’s condition, he became even more ambitious for his escape.

Fortunately, Minseok was brought to the hospital on time that day and survived the accident. Chanyeol was comforted by the fact that his wife was also taking good care of him since she worked at the practice hospital.

Of course, there was no emotional bond between Minseok and his wife, the nurse he was matched with. However, there was still a give and take relationship, albeit based on responsibilities, and therefore Chanyeol knew that Minseok was in good hands.

Chanyeol hadn't told Minseok about his plans. It was not possible for him to say anything, because even the hospital rooms were monitored by the cameras. But sometimes they managed to communicate with their eyes, and it was comforting for Chanyeol to know that there was someone he could trust after all.

Since Baekhyun's escape, security measures have been increased, and the guards placed in the main entrances have started to be selected from higher ranks. Getting out of this hole, which was already difficult to escape, was now becoming almost impossible.

But Chanyeol would use his brain. There had to be things he could do with the opportunities offered to him.

Chanyeol has been working alone in lab A since Minseok’s hospitalization. Not many projects had come to their hands since the accident, and Chanyeol had heard from all the other laboratories that the President was starting to hate on him in particular. This situation was not good for him. Thus, in his spare time in the lab, he turned his back on the camera, making maps for his escape plan or working on biotechnological weapons he could use.

Being alone had other advantages besides these. For example, since he also took on Minseok's duties, he could go in and out of many places and travel within borders easily. This allowed him to map many places in his mind. He learned which gates were guarded more tightly, and when the guards changed their shifts.

Dealing with all this eventually led to a plan. 

They were supposed to export mechatronic cyborg parts to another country within a week. Normally, Minseok took care of exports, with tasks such as listing parts and waiting for the truck during loading. But now Chanyeol was going to do it all, which meant that within a week, he would have the opportunity to go to the export and import vehicle entrance gate which was one of the low security gates.

Timing was very important in this plan, and it was his only chance. But the only bad thing was that timing was not in his hands. This plan was based on completely different third parties. Chanyeol’s luck would determine everything. Everything was like a gamble from now on, Chanyeol was taking all the risks.

It was all or nothing.

…

  
  


Chanyeol checked the inventory he was holding for the last time. The arrival of the export vehicle was only a matter of time. As Chanyeol planned this escape, he thought that when the moment came, his hands would tremble and he would faint because of the fear. But now there was nothing but determination in his eyes.

After taking a deep breath, he hung the inventory list in front of the warehouse. After waiting for a few minutes he heard the sound of the doors opening. Chanyeol placed a casual smile on his face to greet the attendant. His smile was not as sincere and bright as the ones he usually sent Baekhyun, but his insincerity was still not showing.

In front of the wall where he hung the inventory list, a cart awaited, with the boxes already loaded by Chanyeol. After the attendant nodded to Chanyeol, he took the cart and turned towards the door he came from. To accompany him, Chanyeol swiped his ID card from the right side of the door and they walked out of the research building.

Chanyeol filled his lungs with fresh air. His plan had begun, there was no turning back from here. Decisively, the other steps of the plan had to take place.

Together with the attendant, they went to the door where the export vehicle was waiting. Chanyeol was holding a list of items that needed to be loaded into the vehicle today in one hand, while his other hand held tightly onto the biotechnological weapon he had been working on for weeks, which was now inside his pocket.

He did not know how many soldiers would be on duty today. However, the export time was only ten minutes before the shift change. So the soldiers who were waiting at the door must be tired now. This was in Chanyeol’s advantage.

Chanyeol has never been a warrior like Baekhyun. Like every child living in this country, he took three years of martial arts lessons, but at the end of primary school he did not attend clubs like Baekhyun and other soldiers had done and instead, devoted himself to science. No matter how much Baekhyun has been coaching him for the past few months, Chanyeol was not a dedicated person like Baekhyun.

That was the reason he trusted the tiny weapon in his pocket more than his own fists. The weapon, which he designed in a tiny way for easy transportation, was working with the special power of Chanyeol. He had the option of firing in two different modes if he warmed its hilt with fire coming from his palm. Red sharp laser mode or green dulling liquid mode were both conceived in a way that they would not kill the enemy in front of them but would seriously injure them or render them ineffective for a while.

Chanyeol had worked on perfecting this weapon for a week, finally bringing it to its final form that could only be used by those who, like him, could control the fire element.

After walking with the officer for a while, they finally reached the border gate. This door was not as big and ornate as the other doors. It was more as if they made a small rectangular hole in the wall and built another cube behind it for the vehicle entry.

Looking through the door, the bright outside view was obscured by the waiting truck inside the cube garage, leaving what Chanyeol would see when he got out of here to his own imagination.

In front of the door, two soldiers were on guard, overwhelmed. Chanyeol bowed to the soldiers.

He brought the list to the level of his face and checked the names of the boxes that had come down from the cart.

"The list says there should be two boxes of the CA00879 parts. There is only one box here." Like Chanyeol, the clerk checked the names of the boxes from his list one by one and highlighted the approved shipments.

"Is that so? I'm sure I removed all the items from the inventory, but today is my first export mission. So I might be wrong." Chanyeol's lips became a thin line and he looked at the attendant with apologetic eyes.

"Then I have to check the inventory warehouse again." After scratching his head, the attendant turned on his heels muttering, and one of the soldiers followed him to accompany him after the other soldier nudged him.

Chanyeol held his breath, feeling as if everything could be ruined if his focus was broken for even a moment. His eyes followed the attendant and the soldier until they went away from the door. As they left the entrance, Chanyeol was left alone with the soldier waiting on guard.

They were one-on-one, but Chanyeol had to be wary of the possibility of another attendant waiting in the truck. He would screw everything up if he didn't move confidently and quickly.

After he made sure the attendant and the soldier was far enough, he pulled out the tiny weapon he had been warming inside his pocket and aimed the firing part at the soldier.

In a second, before the soldier could even pull the trigger of his weapon, a green liquid left Chanyeol’s weapon and stuck on soldiers' both shoulders; making him unavailable to use his arms.

After shooting two more shots at the soldier’s legs, Chanyeol knew he only had a few minutes before the other soldier came back to call emergency on him.

Not even waiting a second, Chanyeol turned back on his heels and started running towards the back of the truck, where the door to freedom awaited him.

After leaving this door, he would be free. It was his way to freedom, but more important it was his way to Baekhyun; the light of his life.

With the warm feeling rising up from his stomach, he started running. He exited the cube garage and just ran towards non-existence.

The outside seemed non-existent compared to the Government building. It seemed as if no one lived outside their Government, everywhere was just covered with sand and it made it harder to run away.

A couple of swear words left Chanyeol’s mouth as his feet stuck into the sand here and there while running. 

The distance was long and there was nothing that could be seen from where Chanyeol stood. Nowhere to hide, nowhere to go. 

And he had only a few minutes until the Government sent after soldiers.

He took a deep breath and stopped for a minute, his feet stuck in the sand deeper and deeper as he waited without doing anything.

He closed his eyes and begged his brain to work fast and rationally, he needed to come up with a plan immediately or else he would get arrested right away.

Chanyeol’s eyes wandered around in the nothingness he stood. There had to be a way. 

How would Baekhyun think? How did he escape? Did he actually escape?

Chanyeol forced himself to come up with something that would work for his favor while walking straight fast in order to reach at least far away from the Government.

Since he couldn’t think of anything at the moment, he tightly gripped his weapon and continued moving forward.

Chanyeol wasn’t someone that could fight against the soldiers the Government would send after him. His only advantage was that he knew how to use his head wisely. But as Baekhyun once told him, on the battlefield your brain could save you only for a little while. Because you had to act fast and clever, but you wouldn’t have much time to think about your actions.

Chanyeol walked and walked, dumped his belongings like his ID card and lab coat before changing his direction and kept on moving forward. 

Sky shone bright and the sun burnt his skin, making him dizzy with the heat. There was pure silence even though a lot of time had passed. There was no sign of the soldiers, no sign of an alarm.

When he turned back to look, he could still see the Government border walls standing tall further inside the nothingness.

Chanyeol was almost sure that something was wrong. There was no possibility of the government not sending anyone after him.

Right when he turned his back to the Government in order to continue moving forward inside the desert, he felt a sudden sharp pain on his shoulder.

Chanyeol hissed in pain, he could feel the weight of something sharp on his shoulder and he was pretty sure it was a knife like the ones soldiers used.

To take a look at his opponent, he tried to turn back but his feet didn’t move at all. When he looked down at them, he saw the sand around his feet had become hard like rock.

“I thought you were smarter than this.” Chanyeol heard a somewhat familiar voice and turned his head to take a look at. His eyes stayed on the knife that was stuck on his shoulder behind his back and then kept searching for the owner of the voice.

Soon their eyes met, it was Do Kyungsoo inside soldier uniforms, a rebel that Chanyeol had turned into a cyborg a few years ago when the Government captured him.

Do Kyungsoo had always been a burden for the Government when he was the leader of the rebels living outside the borders. When the Government finally captured him, Chanyeol was the one who attached mechatronic parts into his body. 

After the Government drugged him to turn him into a killer machine, Do Kyungsoo had always been a headache for Lab workers. His will to live powered by his human side was so strong that he kept malfunctioning. Therefore, the lab kept increasing the dose of the drugs or deactivating him at times.

“I am smart. That’s why I ran away from that place. Like you did once!” Chanyeol’s voice raised with the pain coming from his shoulder, it hurt so much that it was impossible to use his right arm. “Look Do Kyungsoo. You don’t have to be their dog! You and me, we can run away from that place.”

Chanyeol looked directly into Kyungsoo’s void eyes to search for a hint of life in them. He knew it deep down that rebel Kyungsoo fought with the drug to take the control back.

If Chanyeol tried hard enough, maybe Kyungsoo would malfunction or his inner soul would wake up.

“Cut the crap.” Kyungsoo mumbled before walking towards Chanyeol to pull the knife he stabbed into his broad shoulders.

As the knife moved and the blood circulation started to continue, Chanyeol screamed in pain. He could feel the warm red liquid trickling from the wound and it made him dizzy.

“Yah! Do Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol’s left hand form a fireball to send against Kyungsoo but the cyborg easily avoided it.

Chanyeol reached for his gun with his left hand and this time he managed to aim Kyungsoo’s arm to fire the green liquid. 

As soon as the green liquid touched Kyungsoo’s right arm, it fell down to his side and dropped his knife.

“We are on equal terms now.” Chanyeol smiled with victory as Kyungsoo looked at his human arm that went numb because of Chanyeol’s weapon. “You are lucky your other arm is a machine.”

“You are lucky I haven’t killed you yet.” Kyungsoo’s jaw clenched with anger as he looked at Chanyeol with nothing but seriousness in his face. 

Kyungsoo stepped back and then his left leg hit the floor hard, forming strong vibrations under the sand that caused Chanyeol to fly off a few meters back.

When Chanyeol’s back hit the sand, he hissed in pain. His blood left red stains on the sand as he tried to crawl away from the cyborg.

“Don’t you see? It’s an opportunity! You can go back to your friends and family! The drugs they give you... The effects will disappear soon and you can turn back to your old life!” Chanyeol pulled himself up on his left elbow, eyes teary as the wound on his shoulder kept tombing with pain making it hard to focus on other things.

He started losing blood and he was feeling dizzy, he knew it wouldn’t take long until he passed out.

But he was so close to freedom, how could he give up now?

If he quit now, it meant disappointing Baekhyun.

They have made a promise, they would be together until death comes knocking at the door. 

But it shouldn’t have been like this. Chanyeol had to find Baekhyun no matter what.

He sighed deeply, his teeth clenched together pressuring his jaw. He looked up to see the sun shining above him.

Chanyeol was going to find Baekhyun before the summer solstice, he had a week.

And therefore he had to live, he had to live until he found Baekhyun and embraced him with all his might. 

Until their lips pressed against each other and until Baekhyun lightened up the darkness inside him again.

He had to live, Chanyeol had to live. He wanted to live so bad that his chest hurt with the pressure it put into him.

“Help, _please_. I want to live like you did before.” Chanyeol breathed out, his eyelids fighting against the sleepiness he suddenly started to feel. “When you begged me to let you live... I should have listened. I should have helped you. But I was a coward back then and therefore I followed the Government’s orders.”

Chanyeol reached his hand to point at Kyungsoo’s arm that had a mechatronic part attached inside.

“I thought turning you into a cyborg was the only way to keep you alive. I didn’t know it would have killed your soul.” 

“Why should I help you then? Why do you get to live while you were the one who killed the humanity in me? It’s so unfair!” Kyungsoo shouted, unexpectedly, as he walked towards Chanyeol. 

Their eyes met once again and this time Chanyeol could swear he almost caught a glimpse of life inside those always empty eyes. 

“It’s so unfair.” Kyungsoo repeated as he fell onto his knees in front of Chanyeol. “Life is so unfair.”

And then Chanyeol’s eyelids gave up their fight and everything was buried into darkness.

…

Chanyeol slowly opened his eyes to the sunlight seeping through cracks in the wooden walls. After blinking a few times, he looked around, as if trying to understand where he was. When a fear of the unknown enveloped his body, he wanted to stand up suddenly, but he buried his head back to the pillow when a sharp pain stuck in his right shoulder when he straightened up.

For a while he watched motionlessly around him. It looked like he was in an old ruin. He didn't know where he was or how long he had been here. All he remembered was that he and Kyungsoo were attacking each other.

A small smile spread across his face. He was alive. This meant that he managed to convince Kyungsoo.

He took a deep breath. The inside of his mouth was dry. How long has he been sleeping?

Clenching his teeth, he resisted the pain and straightened slightly. His lips parted slowly, but it seemed like nothing would come out even though he wanted to say something. Maybe his throat was dry, maybe he hasn't spoken for a long time; his voice was quite low.

He rose slowly from the sofa and scanned the room with his eyes. It really did not seem like it was within the borders of the state anymore, and this gave some relief to him. They finally managed to flee like Baekhyun. But now he and Baekhyun were separated.

It was as if fate never was on their side.

This situation made Chanyeol grim. His shoulders dropped wearily and he reluctantly walked towards the door of the room, dragging his feet.

The moment his hand met the cold door handle, he tensed a little. Not knowing what awaited him behind the door was a little worrying. But since he was still alive, he could not be in the hands of the Government. Also, given the old age and ruin of the building, this should have been one of the areas where the rebels gathered.

Slowly he turned the handle and opened the door. Four people were sitting around a small table in the room in front of him. He knew immediately from his haircut that one of them was Kyungsoo. With his eyes hovering over other people, he held onto a hope and sought a clue for Baekhyun. But right now, it seemed that the person he wanted to see the most was not here.

"Oh, good morning sleeping beauty." The person seated in front of him turned his eyes to Chanyeol and smiled. The ashy blond hair of the man, who looked perhaps a year or two younger than him, had been laid back, revealing his slightly tanned skin.

Chanyeol stepped into the room and tilted his head slightly.

"Sleeping Beauty?" He repeated, not understanding, what the young man had said to him. He hadn't heard of this saying before.

"Sorry, I forgot that you just escaped from the Government. Sleeping beauty is a fairy tale hero. A book character. One of the many things that existed in the old world."

"Old World?" Chanyeol repeated what the young man had said again. He felt as if the two of them were speaking a different language, and many questions were lined up in his mind.

"Like this world, but people who lived in the past had many values. Until the Government banned them. I don't want to tire your brain now, we'll talk about them in detail sometime." The young man smiled, his white teeth were so bright that Chanyeol's eyes were almost narrowed as he stared at him.

Chanyeol just waited a while instead of answering. He looked around with a demanding look, as if he was waiting for an invitation or asking others to make a move.

"Anyway, we're glad you woke up. You lost a lot of blood when Kyungsoo brought you. Luckily, Jongin and your blood type turned out to be the same." The red-haired man sitting at the table with his back turned to him smiled at Chanyeol, after looking over his shoulder. "Sorry for the amateurishness of the bandages. The doctor of this area had to go elsewhere for a while."

Chanyeol nodded slowly, muttering a small thank you. He had no idea how they did all this in such an old ruin, but he was grateful that they were able to do so much for him in so much absence.

"I'm Junmyeon, Kim Junmyeon. I'm the leader of the rebels in this area. I used to work for the Government’s lab." The red-haired man placed a sincere smile on his face and got up from his seat. He motioned for Chanyeol to sit on the chair.

"Is it Lab A?" Chanyeol's eyes opened in surprise. "I was working there too. I think I was assigned there to replace you."

Junmyeon's lips parted with a little surprise at Chanyeol's words and a second of sadness passed from his eyes. After being silent for a while as if he could not speak, he cleared his throat and fixed his eyes on Chanyeol's.

"I wonder,were you working with Kim Minseok?" Junmyeon asked. His eyes seemed to shine when he recalled his coworker's name, but soon afterwards they returned to their old mundane state.

"Yes. Yes. Were you his ex-colleague?" As soon as Chanyeol finished his sentence, Junmyeon approached him in a few steps, almost gluing their bodies together. Despite the distance between their height, Junmyeon's round eyes shot holes into Chanyeol’s body making him feel like he was smaller before Junmyeon.

"Is Minseok okay?" Junmyeon's voice was like a whisper. It was so low that even Chanyeol barely understood what he was saying, despite being so close.

"He’s good." Chanyeol could only mutter briefly. He pulled back, taking a deep breath. "He's in the hospital now, but he’s fine." He continued as he recovered a little more, he might have to tell the whole story to explain this situation. "He put himself in danger to help us and was stabbed. But his partner is a nurse in the practice hospital. So they’ll take good care of him, don't worry."

"Partner?" Junmyeon took a few steps back and bowed his head. He refused to meet with Chanyeol's eyes, as his eyes were scanning the ground. "So he got matched."

"Yes, it was time." Chanyeol muttered, then sat down in the chair Junmyeon had just pointed him to sit down.

A deep silence filled the room for a while, but it ended with Junmyeon pulling a chair loudly.

"Anyway. They are Jongin and Sehun, who came together a few years ago. Jongin has teleport skills so he was working in the archive. Sehun was a lab intern." Junmyeon pointed at the ashy blond-haired man and then to the long black-haired man sitting next to him. "You already know Kyungsoo."

Chanyeol greeted the two young men one by one, and his eyes met with Kyungsoo's. It seemed a long time had passed, so Kyungsoo should be himself now.

At least, Chanyeol was able to persuade him, since he let Chanyeol live anyway.

"Now it's your turn to tell your story." Junmyeon turned towards Chanyeol, placing a smile on his face. This time, however, his smile was not as friendly and happy as before. It was as if this time sadness had replaced happiness.

Maybe Chanyeol was wrong, but talking about Minseok seemed to spoil the magic of the environment.

"My story?" Chanyeol asked, tilting his head. His fingers began to keep a broken rhythm on the wooden table and for a while he wanted to avoid the question.

He didn't want to tell them his stories about Baekhyun. He wanted everything they shared with Baekhyun to be private, he wanted to keep it only between themselves. Maybe it was selfish, but it felt wrong to share that special feeling with others.

However, if he didn't share his story, he couldn't ask for help. Maybe he couldn't find Baekhyun alone.

"I…" Chanyeol's lips parted and he paused for a moment to choose the right words. "There was someone I wanted to spend my life with. But it was not possible for us to be together."

"Did you _love_ him?" The young man named Jongin looked at Chanyeol with a smile on his face.

Did he _love_ him?

What even was _love_?

"Love?" Chanyeol could only mutter, his fingers hitting the table slowed, and his eyes met Jongin's.

"When you saw him, your heart was pounding fast and you were excited. You wanted to see him all the time, to be with him every day. He was special to you, wasn’t he?" Sehun had a mocking half smile mixed with sincereness on his face. 

When Chanyeol said nothing, he raised his hand under the table and Chanyeol looked at Sehun and Jongin in surprise, who were standing with their hands clasped together.

"You… do you feel that way too?" Chanyeol asked in surprise, his voice almost disappointed. He selfishly wished he could keep that feeling only to Baekhyun and himself. But it was also a promising thing to have people like them on Earth.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun had always thought they were outsiders until now. No matter how much they were aware of all the faults and corruption of the Government, it was as if the butterflies flying inside their stomachs were a mistake.

But now it felt good to know that they were not alone, and it awakened different feelings inside him that Chanyeol had never been aware of before.

"At first, I didn't know the meaning of these feelings either. I didn't even know their name." Jongin glanced sideways at Sehun and smiled. "One day, however, I was accidentally teleported to a secret room of the archive. I learned about the old world I just told you about from the books I read there. Love is the same. It's the name of the feeling you feel, love. And it's too good to be banned."

"Love..." Chanyeol murmured, wanting to embrace it as if his heart heard that word all the time, no matter how unfamiliar the word might be. As if it was something he had been searching for but couldn't find in all this time.

"But… where's your loved one?" Sehun tilted his head as if he could not understand.

" _My loved one_ ..." Chanyeol repeated this unfamiliar word, his body felt numb, and needles sank from the nerves in his fingertips to his entire body.

"We fell apart on the road because we had escaped at different times. I wanted to search for him." With a moment of excitement, Chanyeol leaned forward on the table and looked at the others with his large round eyes. "I wonder if you know him? Could he be here?"

"Nobody new has stopped by recently." Junmyeon curled his lips and sadly shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry."

"What's his name? When did he run away?" Sehun placed his hands on the table and turned to Chanyeol as if he was focused on the subject.

"Byun Baekhyun. A week ago." After not speaking for a long time, Kyungsoo answered the question instead of Chanyeol. Chanyeol just nodded.

"Ah, but Hyung, hadn't an injured stranger came to the Z area a few days ago? Isn't that the reason why they called Yixing Hyung?" Jongin looked excitedly towards Junmyeon. Everyone at the table had their eyes widened, turned to Junmyeon, who was sitting thoughtfully.

"Yes, someone did. But there are a lot of foreign people coming from different regions, I cannot guarantee that it is Baekhyun.” Junmyeon muttered softly, but that was enough for Chanyeol to straighten up quickly.

Even the wound on his shoulder was as if it no longer hurt.

He could have found Baekhyun. And if Baekhyun was really there, no pain would matter. Seeing Baekhyun's face once would heal everything.

…

Chanyeol took a deep breath and looked out. The sun had already risen and took its place in the middle of the sky.

Although he wanted to head out early to find Baekhyun, Junmyeon wanted him to stay for a while because of the wound in his shoulder. He thought it was best to listen to Junmyeon, as he did not want to take risks on the road to Baekhyun.

With the summer solstice was just a few days away, Chanyeol was ready to go.

Junmyeon hurriedly put a detailed map of the road, food supply that would last at least 2 days and a gun for Chanyeol to protect himself in case of any danger into a bag and handed it to Chanyeol.

Unfortunately, they would not be able to accompany Chanyeol on his way to the Z area, as they were expecting an important supply vehicle to come. However, they had told him how to get to the area and everyone who he had to meet when he arrived.

Kyungsoo also didn't want to accompany him, perhaps because of the unpleasant past they shared with Chanyeol. But Chanyeol was grateful to him for helping until now.

It would take almost a day to travel from their current location to the Z area. He might arrive a few hours earlier if he used the few short paths that Sehun suggested, but the paths were full of swamps, they said, and if he got stuck in one, all his time would be wasted.

Chanyeol didn't want to take any risks on this road to Baekhyun, so he decided he would take the long road.

"Everything seems ready. It's already time to say goodbye." After patting Chanyeol's unhurt shoulder, Junmyeon sent him a kind of comforting smile. "I hope you can find your loved one."

"Thank you... hyung." Chanyeol's lips that were pressed together widened from side to side.

"Hyung! Don't forget this! It's my gift to you!" Jongin was suddenly teleported to the doorway, causing Chanyeol to be surprised for a few seconds.

However, Junmyeon didn't even react as if Jongin was constantly doing this.

Chanyeol took the book that Jongin was holding out and ran his eyes over it. It looked like a little book he hadn't seen before.

_Romeo and Juliet_

"It’s an old book that resembles a forbidden love. It was very famous before." Jongin smiled, then patted Chanyeol's arm and withdrew back to where Sehun and Kyungsoo were waiting.

With a smile on his face, Chanyeol tossed the book into the bag that Junmyeon gave him, and his eyes looked one by one over the people waiting at home.

He should have gone now. However, Chanyeol wasn’t fond of goodbyes.

"Thank you." was the only phrase he muttered and after that he waved them and turned back on his heels to start walking down the bright sunlit path.

All he wanted was for soon, Baekhyun would be the one who lightened the darkness within him. Because even the sun could not be as bright as Baekhyun in Chanyeol's eyes.

...

He had walked for long hours with very short breaks, but at last he could see the lights of what he predicted was the Z area over the hill he was standing on.

He sat on the hill for a while and took a sip of the water from his bag. The sun had gone so long before that Chanyeol was pretty sure that a new day would begin soon.

He was tired and was about to fall asleep. But Chanyeol begged himself to last a few more hours, and so a great battle between his body and brain had begun to rage for the past few hours.

Putting his bag under his head, he laid down for a moment. Perhaps he should have allowed his body to rest for a short while.

His eyes closed, but his brain kept reminding himself over and over that he had to wake up soon.

After an hour-long nap, Chanyeol's eyes opened again, and this time the sun was rising to the sky.

The sky was painted in light blue and orange tones, offering a visual feast to the audience.

Chanyeol couldn't help thinking how beautiful it would be to watch the sky with Baekhyun.

After getting up and hanging his bag on his back, he headed off once more, this time with more solid and fast steps.

Although its lights were visible, the area was farther away than Chanyeol had expected, and it took more than two hours to arrive.

He could feel his knees tremble with fatigue while standing in front of one of the houses in the area and watching around. It seemed like it was difficult to carry the weight of his body now.

Since it was early in the morning, the surroundings were quiet, there was no one in sight. Junmyeon had told him to ring if he found a door with an X drawn with red on a certain door. This door usually pointed to the leaders of the region.

Chanyeol slowly wandered through the dilapidated houses in the area, looking for a door with an X on the door. As he wandered through the seemingly endless rows of houses, he finally saw the sloppy X on the house door that was far right of the alley.

He accelerated his pace and went towards the door. He took a deep breath and knocked lightly on the door.

He was feeling a little bad for coming at this hour, but he seemed to be dying to get to see Baekhyun as soon as possible.

After a moment of silence, the lights of the house turned on and the door was opened by a tall black-haired man. He looked at Chanyeol with questioning eyes.

"Good Morning." Chanyeol muttered shyly, then scratched the back of his head with his hand. "I am disturbing at an early hour, but I am coming from area X. Kim Junmyeon told me that a wounded stranger came here about a week ago and that is why you called doctor Zhang."

"Who are you?" The leader seemed bored of Chanyeol's long statements, and leaned his arm against the edge of the door as he looked at Chanyeol with blank eyes.

"My name is Chanyeol, I've just joined the rebels. But it really doesn't matter. I'm just looking for someone... my friend." Chanyeol hastily attempted to explain once more. "His name is Byun Baekhyun."

The leader waited for a moment, as if squinting his eyes. Later, a female voice was heard from behind the door. 

"Kris, who is he?"

The leader closed the door only slightly in Chanyeol's face, a few murmurs were heard behind the door. Chanyeol waited patiently for their conversation to finish, and within a few seconds the Leader, whom he assumed was named Kris, opened the door again.

"A man named Baekhyun came. But he should have left yesterday after his treatment. It would be better if you talk to Zhang Yixing." Kris stretched his head out from the doorway and, after looking around, pointed to a more elaborate building than the others, with the exterior painted in a light green. "He stays there."

And then he went away, closing the door in Chanyeol's face.

Chanyeol's heartbeat quickened as he heard Baekhyun's name. They were so fast that it was as if he could feel the pulsate in his mouth. He almost fell out of excitement and passed out.

But what if Baekhyun was gone? What if they fell apart again?

Chanyeol did not want to believe this could be possible. Devoting all his thoughts to positive possibilities, he proceeded to the light green painted building.

His legs trembled with excitement as he walked, swinging from side to side as if his body was made out of jelly. His palms were sweaty, the handle of his purse was almost soaked.

His entire body felt numb, a heat wave rising from his stomach to his throat, and he was dying to see Baekhyun again.

He gathered all his courage and knocked on the door of the green painted building. After a moment of silence, the door was opened by a good-looking young man wearing thin round glasses.

The eyes of the young man and Chanyeol crossed, and Chanyeol felt too excited to offer an explanation anymore.

"Byun Baekhyun... is he here?" All he wanted to know was whether Baekhyun was still here, because he no longer had the patience to linger around. His entire body was shaking with Baekhyun's absence, his cells starting from his scalp to his fingertips were burning with pain.

"Baekhyun just left." The words that came out of the Doctor's lips echoed in Chanyeol's brain one by one.

No, they couldn't lose each other again. They can’t be separated again..

"When? How long has it been?" Chanyeol asked, almost clinging to the Doctor's throat, his sleepy eyes suddenly turning into large blood bowls.

"Not even five minutes. He should be around."

As soon as he heard the doctor, Chanyeol ran without waiting for a second. His eyes were everywhere looking for a trail of Byun Baekhyun as he ran through the houses he passed.

No, it couldn't be too far away. It shouldn't have happened.

After his eyes wandered through the houses at a fast speed, they paused near the area's back exit door. He watched the figure that stood there, turning his back to the houses.

His heart felt as if it was going to stop.

He had imagined maybe a million times the time he would meet Baekhyun again, but now he felt as if his brain had stopped working.

His tongue was dry and he began to move towards Baekhyun, not knowing what to say.

Perhaps because he heard the footsteps of Chanyeol moving over the ground, Baekhyun turned back to see the source of the sounds after a while, and was frozen, just like Chanyeol when he first saw Baekhyun.

When Chanyeol finally reached Baekhyun's side, they both watched each other without saying anything. Their hearts seemed to be beating in their mouths and their whole bodies were surrounded by excitement.

Chanyeol felt like all the emotions were mingling together. As if all actions were insufficient to describe what he was feeling right now.

Finally, his lips parted slowly, and that heart-warming phrase poured out of his mouth.

"I _love_ you, Byun Baekhyun." Chanyeol gasps out, heart pounding violently.

"Me... what?" Baekhyun's head leaned to side as if he didn't understand anything at first, and he took a few steps towards Chanyeol. "You... love me?"

Chanyeol could see that Baekhyun was really overwhelmed with their sudden encounter and his voice almost trembled as he talked, his eyes tried to ask the meaning of that word with an apologetic look.

But it was all okay, now that they were together again, they could learn the rules of this new world and explore new emotions that existed here.

"Yes, I love you." Chanyeol once again uttered that word, which was still unfamiliar to his tongue, but described everything he felt perfectly. 

Their eyes locked together for a while. At that moment, it was as if all the feelings they could name and could not name passed through their eyes, and lastly, only love remained.

Baekhyun took a small step to close the distance between them and fell into Chanyeol's arms.

For a moment, they both forgot about the physical wounds on their bodies and hugged each other tightly as if seeking treatment and peace in each other's arms.

They stood that way for a while without saying anything and continued to share the warmth they missed with each other. It felt like it wouldn't be enough even if they stayed like this for hours.

They had succeeded.

They had fled from the Government and found each other again.

There was no need for worry in their hearts anymore, there was no place for bad feelings and thoughts; they became together again now and nothing else mattered.

They would be together forever.

On this earth and then beyond, in the stars; like the sun and the moon that chased after each other, they would always find one another when they looked up.

And their hands would never have to be separated again.

"I _love_ you Park Chanyeol." 


End file.
